When the Wind Whistles
by Kite Lavia
Summary: Cell finds himself in the company of a woman while still in larval form; but his plan to kill her when he can for energy doesn't go as planned. I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One – When the wind whistles**

**Hey everyone, this is a story I put a lot of effort and time into and it might be slow, but it's by no means boring.**

**I've written 177 A4 for this story; this is the first six pages, so there will be no shortages in updates as this story was actually a one shot. **

**This follows the Dragonball Z story line closely, but I did alter it, so don't flame me for it.**

**Please R&R**

**x.X.x**

The forest was quiet for all but one sound, the sound of leaves being rustled and something being dragged across the bed of the forest ever so slowly. A creature with the appearance of an insect larva was dragging itself across the forest floor slowly; each step seemed to be a burden as its brown body cracked with each movement.

'So different,' the creature known as Cell said to himself; he had taken the ultimate risk by coming to the past in order to be complete and he was already paying for that choice. Forced to regress to his larva form he was completely unable to protect himself from attacks.

How he wished he could just go to a corner and wait for the four years to pass, wait to hatch again; but alas, he could not, he needed to eat in order to progress and grow. While he had still been in the lab the tubes had fed him so he was able to just remain there, but now… now he was in danger.

Lying beneath his cracking brown exoskeleton was his real body and at the moment this planet's bigger animals could make a snack of him, his protective layer was only so strong and if he 'hatched' before he was complete he would never become perfect.

He needed to find a place where he would be safe, where he could find food and grow in peace. He never fully considered the possibility of danger while in this form.

'I will not succumb to my fear,' he said to himself, berating himself for even considering his weakness at the moment, he was perfect and he would survive!

x.X.x

"Hina, Hina, come back here!" A woman yelled as she watched the raven hair of her daughter disappear around a rock outcropping. "Hina!" The woman screamed as she fell down on the ground.

She had now officially lost her daughter, she was sure of it, how could she have been so foolish?

x.X.x

Hina bolted through the forest as she wiped the tears from her eyes; it took all her effort to stop herself from running into trees accidently. "Shit, I can't see!" She yelled to herself as she furiously started to wipe the tears for her face, to rid herself of the blurry mirage they were creating, but doesn't matter how much she wiped them, they just kept on coming.

"Why…. Why did you have to do that mom, why did you have to…" she couldn't complete the sentence and instead shook her head furiously as more tears streamed down her face like an endless river.

x.X.x

Cell heard a sound heading towards him and he was immediately alert to any danger, but he knew that regardless of how quick he moved the sound would reach him before he could reach a place to hide, so instead he listened to try and decipher what it was.

It took him a second to realize it was crying. 'A human,' he said in his mind and he immediately knew this was a good opportunity to feed, this human seemed to be distraught and wouldn't be in any position to fight possibly.

He would wait for the person to reach the area and then he would attack, he was designed to absorb bio-extract so a human would be much more feasible than anything else he could hope to find in the forest.

x.X.x

Hina burst through the last few trees and was shocked when she found herself in a clearing, she lowered her hands from her face as her tears had momentarily ceased. "Wow…" she whispered as she looked around, she had never been in this area before and it was beautiful.

Lush trees sprung up from the ground, creating a canopy above that allowed rays of sunshine to filter through that fell onto a small pool next to a rock outcropping. As she continued to look around she suddenly noticed something on the ground, something big, brown and…moving.

A yell escaped her throat so quick she didn't even realize she had screamed; she fell back against a tree and stared at the thing before her as it was slowly making its way towards her.

Cell stopped and looked at the girl as she had noticed him and just stared at her as she did the same; he wondered what her next move would be, he wasn't capable of chasing after her if she chose to run so the best choice of action would be to remain stationary until she made her move, perhaps even moved closer. Humans were such simplistic and idiotic creatures after all.

Hina stared at the odd creature and she was between disgusted and fascinated; she had never seen anything like this thing before and she had been living near the woods her entire life, practically _in _the woods her whole life. This thing didn't exist according to the world and that caused her fascination to spark, putting aside her sadness for the time being.

"What are you?" She asked without expecting a reply as she took a step forward, the bug just remained there and stared at her with beady, almost catlike, eyes. Once she was a few feet away from it she took a closer look, the bug was completely brown in color; the only other color was its eyes, which seemed glazed over. To her it appeared like it was a larva of something, something big.

Though she couldn't place her mind on anything of the sort, it definitely looked like an insect, though the mouth of the creature was peculiar; it was a very funny looking specimen indeed.

Cell watched as the girl's leg was but a mere foot away from him and he decided to take the opportunity. He moved forward in one quick burst of energy and tried to bite her leg, but instead he bit air as the girl jumped back with a yelp of fright.

"Woh, easy there fella," Hina said with a laugh to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling, the thing had tried to bite her! "Are you hungry, is that it?" She questioned it and naturally the thing couldn't respond, so instead she reached into her pocket and pulled out a packet of crisps she had grabbed on her way out. She had no idea why she was giving her only food to a creature that tried to eat _her_, but she had a soft spot for animals; even if this was an insect.

She opened up the packet and poured out the crisps in a heap for the creature. "Don't know if you'll eat that," she said with a laugh, but when she saw the creature take a step forward she decided to wait and see.

Cell looked at the crisps and then up at the girl, why was she feeding him and not running away? He had tried to bite her after all; did she not realize his intentions with this action? 'Of course she doesn't… she's just a human after all,' he thought to himself as he pulled a piece of the food into his mouth and chewed it, he was surprised that it wasn't half bad.

"Oh good, you like it," Hina said as she went to sit down a few meters from the creature, she didn't quite feel comfortable being any closer, given he had tried to bite her only moments earlier. She watched him as he ate the rest of the crisps and then gave a long sigh. "Where's your family?" She asked it as it continued to eat.

Cell scoffed inwardly at the females question as he continued to eat, was she completely idiotic? Any smart person would've bolted at his mere presence, but instead she decided to stand around like the idiot she was.

"Must be hard being out here all alone," Hina continued as she still stared at the creature. "I'm going to be here now as well, in the forest," she said and Cell lifted his head to look at her once the crisps were gone. "Not quite sure where I'll stay though, this place is huge and I want to be as far away from my home as possible," she said and Cell was suddenly curious.

The female was running away from her home to live in the forest? Why would a human do that? He stared at her intently for a few seconds before taking a step towards her and when she didn't move back or get up he was intrigued; she instead just gave him a smile.

"I don't have any more food, I gave you mine," she said as she got to her feet and Cell stopped dead as he watched her, in this form he needed to be wary of anything and everything. "Well, I'm going to go and set up 'camp' somewhere," she said with a laugh as she started to walk away and suddenly it struck Cell like a thousand bolts of lightning.

The girl was going to be staying in the forest and would constantly need to feed herself, she had already shown weakness by giving him food and if she could continue to do so he would be guaranteed a steady food supply. He doubted she would be any good at protecting herself, but at least if something attacked it would go for her first.

He took a step towards her and when she heard the noise she turned around and looked at him, a curious look on her face. "Something wrong little guy?" She asked, even if the thing wasn't little at all.

Cell growled at her 'little guy' comment, but instead of lashing out he crawled forward a bit and looked up at her, he hoped her idiotic mind would be able to comprehend what he was getting at.

Hina stared at him for a few seconds before realizing he wanted to come with. "Oh… you want to come with?" She asked and the creature took a step forward to indicate she was right, or at least she thought so. "Well, I don't know, you tried to bite me," she said as she bended down by it, looking into its cat-like eyes. Her resolve suddenly crumbled as she pitied the creature. "Oh very well, but you won't try to bite me again, will you?" She asked and naturally it didn't give a response so she decided to take a chance.

Cell watched as she slowly extended her hand towards his mouth and he knew she was testing whether he would bite or not, he knew this was an opportunity to kill her, but the chance was big that she would be able to move her hand out of the way in time. So instead he just nudged her hand and immediately a huge smile appeared on her face.

"Great, then come with me," she said as she turned around and started to walk deeper into the forest and all Cell could do was follow her idly, at least one thing was looking positive at the moment. If the girl was capable of looking after both of them in the forest it would be great, if she wasn't he would be able to 'absorb' her while she slept. It was a win-win situation.

x.X.x

(Two Hours Later)

Hina was standing in another clearing, which was bigger than the previous one, and seemed to be content; she looked down at Cell. "Great place to build a hut, don't you think?" She asked.

Cell rolled his eyes as he looked at her jubilant expression, hadn't the female been crying earlier, and now she was happy? 'How confusing…' he said in his mind. He watched with boredom as the female immediately started to get to work to build her 'hut'.

x.X.x

(Three Hours Later)

"Tada!" Hina yelled happily as she looked at her completed work, she had managed to construct a small hunt from dead branches and palm tree leaves and she had to admit she was relatively pleased with herself.

Cell looked at the structure completely bemused, it looked like a weak breeze could tear the thing apart, and yet the girl was applauding her terrible work? When the thing came crashing down on her she'd realize her construction mistakes.

Hina turned towards Cell and gave him a warm smile. "Feel free to go in there and make yourself at home, I'm going to go and get something to eat," she said and Cell couldn't argue with the idea of food, but he wasn't going to climb into the disaster she had constructed.

She turned away from Cell and immediately set off to where she had seen fruit trees earlier when she got the material; she was happy she was this busy because it stopped her from thinking, stopped her from recalling what her mother had told her and even having a freaky bug as a friend was better than thinking of that.

She didn't know how long it would take before the forest took its toll on her, but she would never return to her mother, she would never face that woman again, she would rather die here than pretend to live there.

x.X.x

Cell watched as she went and decided to calculate a few things in his head; he knew it took four years to 'evolve' if he ate regularly, but if he was going to get extra food in it would take shorter, maybe a year shorter if he was lucky. This was good, because the sooner he was out of this body the better; as far as he knew the androids had still not appeared on this planet so they were still 'alive' in a sense, he couldn't let them die twice, he _needed_ them.

x.X.x

(Few minutes later)

Hina returned with an armful of bananas, when she reached the front of her hut she dropped it down on the ground and immediately saw as Cell edged closer to the fruit. "Knock yourself out," she said as she picked up one for herself and a few seconds later Cell started to eat the fruit.

Hina was halfway through her banana when she suddenly dropped it out of shock; everything was gone! The creature had eaten every single banana she had brought and was heading for her dropped one now. "You have quite the appetite," she said with a nervous laugh and the creature ignored her as he gobbled down her banana.

'You have no idea little morsel,' Cell said inwardly as he ate her piece, the more food he got the better and if she chose to pile it up he would eat it.

x.X.x

(One day later – 1 day in company)

Hina was sitting by the fire she had made and looked at Cell, he was lying on the opposite side of the fire and she was terribly curious about him. "You're still in your larva stage I'm guessing," she said and the creature didn't give any indication that he had heard her.

"I wonder what you turn into," she said as she went into thought. "If you turn into a butterfly you're going to be a big one," she giggled at the thought of a giant butterfly and it seemed peaceful to her.

A breeze wafted through the trees suddenly and she immediately shivered. "It's cold here," she mumbled as she sat closer to the fire and Cell looked at her now.

The girl wasn't going to make it, she couldn't handle the cold and the previous night she had cried herself to sleep, only to be woken up moments later by the howling of a wolf. She wasn't cut out for the wild and he wondered how long it would take before she gave up. If that time came he would have to absorb her before she left.

x.X.x

(Two days later – 3 days in company)

Hina was busy frying some fish on the fire and she was transfixed by the flames as she went into thought. Every time she thought she thought of her mother and what she had said, what she had done. "No," she said aloud as she shook her head, getting rid of the memories.

Cell watched as she shook her head and spoke to herself and he hissed softly, she was annoying and he was stuck with her.

**x.X.x**

**Tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, posting the next chapter earlier than I thought I would, don't think the first one gave enough to make it interesting; however, I said the story has a slow start.**

**In this chapter she finds out he has a form of intelligence, so I guess it's safe to say it gets a bit more interesting as of now. **

**Please R&R and thanks to those whose read the first chapter.**

**x.X.x**

(One week later – 10 days in company)

"You know, it isn't so bad out here," Hina said through her clattering teeth as she hugged herself; both she and Cell was in her hut at the moment as the rain poured down outside, some of the water managed to seep in through the holes in her 'roof'.

Cell wanted to laugh at her, he had sensed the rain coming but the girl had been completely oblivious to it and had gone to take a 'bath', by the time she got out it started to rain and she was forced to dress in her wet clothes and seek shelter. No wonder she was freezing.

"Maybe I should just sleep," she whispered to herself and then lay down next to Cell and put her hand on his back. "You feel funny," she commented and Cell decided there was no point in moving away from her, he had no desire to move at the moment in any case.

x.X.x

(One Month Later – 40 days in company)

Cell was lazing off a few feet in front of her 'new' hut as he ate the fruit she had put down there. He was pleased with his growth progress, if he continued to grow at this rate he would be out of this larva form within 3 years.

There was very rarely a predator close to the place, but when there was she would manage to chase it off with fire; he had thought she would've run back 'home' a long time ago, but it appeared he had been wrong.

Why a human would choose to live in the wild while they had a home was beyond him, humans didn't like living like animals when they had a choice and she did. He didn't know why she was here, nor did he care, but it was obvious the day he found her she had run away; her constant crying at night also proved this.

Hina stepped out from behind a tree a few seconds later with another armful of fruit in her hands, she looked at Cell. "Sheesh, the least you can do is leave the pits, I need to start growing more fruits and vegetables, you're depleting everything," she said and Cell merely rolled his eyes as he continued to eat, where did she get off telling him what to do?

Hina walked towards the little garden she had constructed, she had actually left the forest at one point to go to the farmers market; she had to steal what she wanted, but she had managed to get a few packets of vegetable seeds. The fruit she had planted would take much longer to cultivate and she simply didn't have that much time to wait for food and neither did her bug friend.

She had to admit that the bug had actually helped a bit, she didn't know if she'd have been able to stay here so long if she didn't feel like she was looking after something else. It was an interesting creature and she still didn't know what it was or what it was going to hatch into, she could only guess it was a larva form.

"I hope you turn into a butterfly," she said and Cell suddenly started choking on the food he was chewing, but she didn't notice. "That would look awesome, though, but then you might try to eat me, hey?" She asked and Cell managed to dislodge the food that had stuck in his throat.

A butterfly? What type of an insult was that? She was right though, the second he was hatched he would eat her, he needed her bio-extract, and everyone else's for that matter.

"I'm going to get some more wood for the fire tonight," she said as she put the food down in front of Cell, only taking one or two for herself.

Cell watched her go and snorted, soon he would hatch and he couldn't wait for that day; if only he hadn't needed to regress to this form to come here. He knew the androids weren't created yet, but they would be soon.

x.X.x

(7 Months Later – 270 Days in company)

"That's it buddy," Hina said as she went to sit down in front of Cell. "Everything's gone, there's nothing left to eat here but grass," she said and then sighed. "You ate everything I could find, but hey, look at you, you're gigantic!" She finished as she looked at Cell. He was now twice the size he was when she had found him; he was already bigger than she was.

Cell couldn't believe that everything was gone; she probably just didn't know how to look properly. Though she had been speaking about it for a few months already, saying they would have to move at some point.

"I hadn't really considered where to go, I guess we could just travel even deeper into the forest, but that could take a few days and I don't know what we'll find," she said and Cell rolled his eyes, indecisive bloody female.

He looked at her as she tried to decide what to do and was actually surprised when he took note of how long her hair had become compared to what it was. He wasn't very observant when it came to her, but it had grown. 'She could hang herself with it,' he mocked in his head.

She was looking awful though in all honesty, her hair had grown to her waist, but it was dry and ragged. Her clothing was torn as she only had about three sets to start with, her skin was tanned, but dry and in the previous months she had gotten cuts, bruises and various wounds that turned into scars.

Though she never ran back home, she wouldn't do it; she couldn't do it after what happened. She would rather die here.

"Well, let's go then, I'm sure we won't run into any trouble," she said with a nervous laugh as she picked up her few essentials and then looked at Cell. "I don't know if you even understand me, but you're welcome to come with, I'm not just going to go get food now, I'm not coming back," she said and Cell stared at her with his catlike eyes.

Did he take her for a fool? Of course he understood her; he was far more intelligent that she could ever dream of being. Though he was posed with a question, travel with or stay and survive the rest of the time alone. If she couldn't find food anymore, he would have travel getting it as he wasn't fully functional, but he had stockpiled enough food to still hatch before the androids came to be.

Though that would be counter-productive, if he could way before they arrived then he could just go to the lab and absorb them without the hassle of finding them or worrying about their demise. It was settled then.

Cell began walking towards her and she smiled. "Yay," she said and he didn't understand her joy that he was coming with. He was nothing but a burden to the girl, he made her leave her 'home' here in the forest because he ate everything and now she was taking him to a new place. Mortals were truly stupid.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Hina was tired and getting hungry, she was walking slower than she would've liked because her bug friend wasn't exactly what she would describe as 'fast on his feet'. She stopped suddenly and turned towards Cell. "I'm tired, we'll just rest here for tonight," she said, it was dark out already.

Cell stopped and was bemused with her sentence; she was tired already? How weak. He watched her reach into her bag and pull out an apple and then bend down by him. "I'm sorry, there wasn't any more to take, my harvest was bad so this is all I have," she said and Cell was confused as to why she was giving it to him then, he could hear her stomach churn and yet she was giving her only food to him and apologizing about it?

'Moron, you'll kill yourself before I even get the chance,' he said in his mind as he took the apple and ate it; she smiled at him and then leaned against the tree, closing her eyes.

Cell sighed inwardly as he closed his eyes as well, he might as well rest.

x.X.x

(Next Day – 271 Days)

Hina was up and walking already but she was starving. "I'm such a softie," she said to herself as she continued to walk, she could hear the slow steps of the bug behind her.

Cell couldn't argue with her there, she was.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Hina's eyes lighted up when she saw a giant apple tree come into view. "Jackpot!" She yelled as she dashed for it and immediately started climbing the branches to get to the food.

Cell watched her go with amusement, she was more excited about seeing food that he was, and that said a lot. Mortals were so fragile; it was surprising she had any energy left in her.

When Hina was high enough up to reach the apples she immediately plucked an apple and started to eat it, when it was done she looked down at the bug and immediately got cold feet when she saw how high up she was. She was at least seven meters up.

Cell watched the girl visibly pale as she looked down and he sensed her fear, if he had the capability to laugh he would've, she was scared of heights!

"Oh crap," Hina said as she looked up at the apples, she wouldn't freak out just yet, she needed to get some apples down. She gripped the branch she was on tightly as she got to her feet and very slowly started to remove the apples and throw it down on the ground.

Cell could hear her say 'oh crap' repeatedly while up there as she tossed the apples down, but he was just amused, if she fell down and died he would have more to eat than the apples, but in the meantime, the apples would do.

A few minutes later Hina had stripped the tree of all the apples that were within reach and now she was faced with a dilemma, she had to get down. She couldn't even remember how she had gotten up.

She took a deep breath as she slowly started to step down to another branch, while gripping the one she was on tightly. She was just about to lower herself down on the branch when a strong gust came past her and as she lost her footing she screamed.

Cell watched as the girl screamed and a second later she dropped down to the branch below, her second scream came when that branch snapped and he watched as she began falling down.

He flinched as he saw her hit the ground with a loud thud. 'That had to hurt,' he muttered in his mind as he started to make his way towards her, her life-force indicated she was still alive.

Hina felt pain rack her body and waves of shock still vibrated through her body, she couldn't breathe as her wind was knocked out. She turned her head and was immediately looking into the face of the bug. "Hey," she croaked out and then clenched her eyes shut. "Shit," she breathed out now, her stomach hurt when she spoke.

Cell watched her as she attempted to get up, but it was all pitiful attempts. He had known mortals were weak, he had seen their weaknesses, but this was beyond him. She had only fallen a short distance and yet she was struggling to move? He continued to watch her and suddenly she began laughing.

"God, I'm pathetic," she muttered out bitterly and then continued to laugh.

Cell didn't quite understand why she was laughing and insulting herself, he wondered whether she was mentally deranged, it would explain her desire to live in the forest, her tolerance of him and his appetite and this laughing fit.

Minutes went by before Hina managed to pull herself to her knees; she leaned back against the tree. She looked at her arms and saw they were turning blue and she was sure if she tried to move them too much it would hurt like hell.

When Cell knew she wasn't close to dying he decided to rather go around and eat the rest of the apples, while she was alive she was still a valuable to him.

Hina watched the bug go around and chomp the apples; she wondered whether he had been concerned about her when she fell. He had come to her and watched her carefully after all. "Let's rest here tonight, it's almost sundown and I can't travel right now," she said and the bug looked towards her with his catlike eyes, his eyes were intelligent and she sometimes wondered to just what type of extent he could understand her.

Cell looked at her for a second before turning back to his food; he didn't think she'd be able to travel so there was no need for her to state the obvious. "Hey," he heard her say and looked towards her again. "Can you push an apple this way?" She asked with a laugh that sounded painful.

Hina watched him watch her and knew that was wishful thinking, he was an insect, there was little to no chance that he understood her and if he did… well… it would be a miracle.

Cell looked at her and pondered her request for a few seconds, if she was like all the other mortals, and even Goku, then it would mean food would help her recover quicker and this little trip of theirs was getting on his nerves. With an inner grunt he bit into the stem of an apple and started to crawl towards her.

Hina's eyes widened when she saw him head her way with an apple in his mouth. "No way," she said and when he was in front of her he dropped it. She reached out and took it with awe. "You…understand me?" She asked, she hadn't expected him to.

Cell looked at her and was once more annoyed that she undermined his intelligence, but she might as well know that he did. Perhaps it would make her stop calling him 'little bug, little guy or just bug.' He lifted his head up and down once in a nod and she got such a shock that she dropped the apple.

"What?" She asked in both horror and shock, how was it possible that a bug could understand her and how was it possible that she only considered it now? 'No, there's no way I couldn't _imagined _this,' she muttered to herself and then calmly picked up the apple again; this little discovery had actually managed to knock her pain into the back of her mind.

"How is that possible?" She asked the bug and it did absolutely nothing to respond, it just stared at her. "Oh right, you can't speak," she said to herself more than to him and Cell was getting bemused with this already. "If you can… think and things, then you must have a name," she said as calmly as possible, she was actually _talking _to a bug and it could understand her.

Cell looked at her and bobbed his head again, he saw her go whiter in her face and he figured it wasn't from the pain.

"Anyway you can…err… tell me?" She asked as she put the apple down for now, if she ate anything now she had a good idea she'd choke on it.

Cell considered her words and actually found various ways to tell her, the most appeasing would be to telepathically project it into her mind and watch her freak out, but the only thing that will serve is amusement because she'd probably run away after he did that and she was his food supply.

He looked at the ground beneath him and started to paw at it, he hated being in this form, it made him utterly hapless and it was annoying.

Hina watches as the bug pawed on the ground and she felt herself go blue from shock when she saw the bug _writing _on the ground with its paws. "C-Cell…" she muttered and then her mind couldn't handle it anymore, the overload of something that didn't exist.

Cell watched as she went from white to blue and then keeled over as she passed out. He rolled his eyes as he walked away from her to eat the rest of the apples that were still scattered around the place; there was no need to worry about her injuries, her life-signature indicated she was fine.

**x.X.x**

**Next Chapter will be up soon enough **


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, next chapter up – I'm saying it again, this story doesn't truly get interesting until…well, I guess the next chapter.**

**Please read and review.**

**x.X.x**

(Next Day – Early Morning – 272 Days)

Hina opened her eyes and before even worrying about the pain in her body she looked towards the ground where she _imagined _the bug was writing his name. She went blue in her face when she still saw the writing there. "No way… impossible, not possible…" she mumbled as she got to her feet painfully.

Once she was up she looked around and after a second of searching her eyes fell on the bug, named Cell apparently, and saw he was awake. She couldn't comprehend how it could be intelligent, how it could _write_, what exactly was it?

"So…Cell…" she said awkwardly and he lifted his head in recognition and she went bluer in her face, this was like seeing a ghost or meeting an alien. 'Oh snap, what if he _is _an alien,' her mind said to her, but she quickly dismissed the idea, aliens didn't exist. 'Neither does intelligent, literate bugs,' her mind argued, but she pushed that thought aside as well.

Cell watched her go from white to blue in a matter of seconds, was it so difficult to grasp that he had intelligence? 'Mortals,' he muttered to himself in his mind as he got up and started to walk towards her.

Hina watched Cell crawl towards her and she didn't know whether she wanted to run or stay, up until yesterday she had considered him a pet, but now he was more like...a creepy pet that was stalking her with his eyes, he could _think_. The mere idea unnerved her.

Cell saw her take a step back suddenly and he stopped, his eyes narrowing. 'So that's how it is now,' he said in his mind and he could see from the look on her face what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry," she said as she took another step backwards. "You're…just not what I thought you were, I'm sorry," she continued as she took another few steps back. "Goodbye Cell," she said and then turned on her heel and ran, she could feel the tears stinging at her eyes as she did so.

Cell watched her go and felt immediate anger at the situation. 'Stupid human,' he thought as just lay back down on the ground, he would worry about getting food later.

x.X.x

A few minutes later Hina couldn't run anymore, she fell down on the ground as the throbbing pain in her leg finally overcame her. She was in tears and she knew exactly why, it wasn't because she was abandoning something she had looked after for almost a year but because she did the same thing her mother did, the same thing she hated her mother for.

"Jesus Hina," she said to herself as she shook her head, she was judging and abandoning another living creature because of fear. "Go back Hina, go back," she urged herself but she couldn't find the strength in her legs.

She leaned back against a nearby tree and took in a few deep breathes. "I'll go back, I'm going back," she said to herself. "Then I'll go back home, it only took me a second like it did her…" she said to herself, she didn't think she'd ever be able to forgive her mother for what she did, but she had just done the same thing.

Hina pushed herself to her feet and started to walk back towards the place she left him. She was just as bad as her mother and she would've been worse if she wasn't going back.

x.X.x

Cell was still lying down when he heard something by the trees, he wished his hearing was better while in this form, but until he broke it from this shell he had the hearing of a normal human.

He looked up and was surprised to see the girl come into view, her face was red and he still saw fresh tears on her face. 'Hell she cries a lot,' he thought as she came closer, he wondered why she was back; the look on her face before she left was one of horror.

Hina stopped a few feet from Cell and looked at him, he was huge, he had intelligence and if she hadn't known him for this long she would've considered him scary as hell, but he was also her friend in a way.

"I'm sorry, I… was conflicted," she said as she looked to the side and away from him out of shame. She could see from the side of her eye that he was still staring at her, she couldn't tell what he was thinking and she wasn't sure whether she wanted to know.

"D-do you still want to come with me?" She asked and Cell looked at her now, scanning her to try and see whether she had any malicious intent with her offer. Hina sat down on the ground in front of him. "I want to go home…" she said suddenly and Cell was amused and confused by that sentence.

Hina saw him continue to look at her and she decided she might as well tell something why she was in the forest. "I don't know whether you're curious as to why I'm here," she said as she wiped her forming tears away.

Cell was curious, but not curious enough that he actually wanted to know, though if she was going to ramble she was going to ramble, he couldn't stop her; he was considering still going with her though, at least then he'd get the opportunity to absorb her now that he knew she'd leave at any given moment.

"Right, the reason I'm here is because of my mother and what she did long ago, something I never knew until she told me before I came here," Hina said and Cell lay down completely, he had an idea this would take a while, human squabbles didn't interest him, but he didn't have anything better to do.

"I'm…19 at the moment, almost my birthday," she said with a sad laugh and then continued. "When I was 15 my mother had a baby with…someone…I don't know who, but anyway, she was my sister and the moment I saw her I loved her," Hina said and she felt more tears come to her eyes.

"My mom didn't want to take care of her, she rejected the baby and I didn't understand why she was doing that, why she was refusing to look after her child like she did me so I took it upon myself to become my sister's mother.

It wasn't easy, I was a kid back then, but I tried and one day, to my great relief, my mother seemed to snap out of her baby-blues and accept Jade, which was her name, as her daughter.

When she was 7 months old my mother took her to the doctor to get a check-up, but when my mother came back she wasn't with her and my mother was in hysterics. She told me she was attacked and they took the baby.

My mom had already informed the police of it but that wasn't enough for me, I did everything I could to find her, I tried to track down these attackers and reclaim my sister but it was all futile," Hina said as she suddenly sobbed, bringing her hand to her mouth to try and stop herself from crying more.

"They found her… in a dumpster and she was shredded, dead, they said an animal killed her. My mom didn't want to go and identify the body so I was forced to do it, the only reason I did it was because I was hoping it wasn't her, that it wasn't Jade.

But it was… I was ruined after that, days dreaded on like years and everything felt empty, I don't know if you know what it's like to have something that makes you feel whole die, it left me empty.

The day I came into the forest my mother had a breakdown and she con-" Hina broke down crying and she couldn't finish the sentence.

Cell watched her cry and he thought he knew already what happened, but he was not one to jump to conclusions so he'd let her tell it finish, when she actually had enough air in her lungs to do so.

Hina took a few deep breathes as she calmed herself; she wiped the tears away again. "That day she confessed something to me," Hina continued, her voice cracking but she attempted to keep it strong enough to speak.

"She told me… that it was her fault Jade is dead, that she caused her death. I had tried to comfort her despite my own turmoil, I just thought she was blaming herself for letting them take her, but that was not it.

She told me she had gone into one of her 'states' again and in her hatred for my sister she had dumped her into the bin and then ran away, disgusted by the baby and judging her for being born.

When she came to her senses she had ran back, only to find Jade…only to…she was dead," Hina finished as she wept.

Cell watched her; he had assumed that was what happened. 'So this is why she is here,' he thought, though it didn't explain why she wanted to go back home,

"I did… the exact same thing to you just now, I abandoned you because of a moment of disgust and ran, I did the exact same thing as my mother," she said as she continued to bawl her eyes out.

Cell wasn't incredibly amused by her story, though he appreciated her sense of despair at realizing she had become the monster she hated, even if only through a small action.

"I just want to go home," Hina said as her weeping had now turned into silent tears. "I can't hide forever, I can't continue to blame her if I did the same thing, she lived with that regret until she finally broke, then I left her as well," she said and Hina suddenly jumped to her feet as horror struck her.

"Oh god, what if she killed herself!" She yelled and Cell could sense the panic radiating from her in waves, it was obvious despite the fact that she hated her mother, or thought she did, she still loved her.

"Come with me, please," Hina said towards Cell and he got up and started crawling towards the direction they originally came from. How could he refuse, two humans in one house for him to absorb? A human's energy was much more beneficial to him than mere human food; this would greatly increase his growth spurt.

Hina saw as he started to walk and she was happy, if he was going to come with her it meant he didn't hold her liable for abandoning him. Now she just needed to get home to make sure her mother was alright, she didn't want her to be dead, she couldn't lose something else she loved.

x.X.x

(1 day later – 273 days)

Cell watched as Hina was marching on absolutely no energy, she had refused to sleep or even go look for food; she was determined to get back to her home. They were now passed the place their original camp was and he could see by her tired look that they were close to her house.

"There it is!" She yelled as she saw the roof of her house come into view and suddenly she started running, leaving Cell behind, but he could see where the place was.

Hina reached the front door and immediately tried the knob, but the door was locked so she started hammering on the door urgently. The place looked neglected, but not to the extent that no one was living here.

A few seconds later the door opened and when she saw her mother come into view she burst into tears. "Mom," she said and her mother's eyes widened when she saw her daughter standing there.

"Hina…" her mother said in disbelief, as if she had thought she would never come back.

"I forgive you mom," Hina mumbled through tears and her mother immediately grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace as she started crying now, both of unbeknown that Cell was watching them from behind the trees.

'What a vivid display of emotion,' he thought as he watched the two squeeze the life out of each other in happiness. 'I will never understand this,' he said as he started to leave the shadows of the trees and step towards the house.

Jasmine, Hina's mother, was still hugging her daughter when she saw a gigantic insect crawling towards them. She screamed and pushed Hina in behind her as she grabbed a rake that was placed close to the door to defend them.

Hina spun around and when she saw Cell she knew there was nothing to be afraid of, her mother just hadn't seen him yet. "Mom, relax," she said and Jasmine held onto the rake firmly as she stared at the beast before them. "Mom," Hina said as she took hold of the rake and pried it out of her mother's hands.

Jasmine didn't look away from the giant bug as her daughter spoke. "What is that thing?" She asked and Hina placed the rake firmly against the wall again before walking towards Cell, she didn't exactly think her mother would take his presence well; it wasn't like she was bringing a puppy home.

"It's…a friend a made while in the forest," she said, she didn't want to unnerve her mother by telling her he had a name that she did not choose and that he was intelligent; her mother would keel over most probably.

"Friend…" her mother murmured as she continued to look at Cell. "Is it… dangerous?" She asked and Cell was amused when Hina shook her head. "You want to… keep it?" Jasmine asked and Hina nodded again.

"Yes mom, I would like to keep him until he decides to leave," Hina said and Cell was expecting the mother to refuse, which would be his cue to strike before they went on the offensive, but instead the mother slowly nodded.

"If it makes you happy, then I don't mind," Jasmine said hesitantly, but she had done the worst thing possible to her daughter, she had taken away her sister and she would never forgive herself for that, this was the least she could do.

Cell hadn't considered the fact that the mother would welcome him with open arms, but this did present the opportunity to continue growing at a steady pace. He was sure Hina had taken into account how much he eats, so she would continue to supply him with that and there was no place safer than a house for him to stay.

When he was close to hatching, about seven weeks or so, he would devour the both of them and that would make him hatch instantly because of the energy. It was a perfect plan, to think mortals were helping him reach his first stage, in which he would kill them all. How foolish they were indeed.

"Mom…" Hina said and Jasmine immediately looked away from Cell and towards her daughter, she still couldn't believe she was back, she had hoped and prayed, but she never thought she'd come back. "I'm starving…" Hina said with a soft laugh and Jasmine smiled.

"I'll fix you something quickly," she said and then walked back into the house, leaving Hina to deal with Cell.

Hina turned towards Cell and saw he was still just standing there, as if he was unsure of what to do next and he was; he wasn't quite capable of fitting into the house due to his bulky larva form.

"Come with me," she said as she began to walk around the house and Cell followed her, he noticed the large vegetable garden at the back of the house and it dawned on him that this was perhaps how the mother made money, exporting her harvests.

When they were at the back he noticed a barn a few meters away, next to it was a stable with a paint horse inside. He considered absorbing the horse, but he also considered that a one-way ticket out of here.

Hina saw Blossom, her horse, in the stable and her eyes lighted up. "Blossom!" She yelled and the horse looked around when he heard the voice and when the horse saw Hina it was obvious she was pleased to see her owner.

Cell followed behind as Hina ran towards her horse and started stroking her, after a minute Hina looked towards Cell. "You can stay in the barn if you like, or anywhere that pleases you, I'm sure you're starving as well, so I'll go harvest a few fruits for you, my mom runs a plantation of sorts," she said and Cell realized he was right about her mother's occupation.

"I'll be right back," Hina said as she ran into the plantation to go pick the fruits for Cell, leaving him with blossom.

Cell saw the horse look at him oddly, as if he sensed the evil that was Cell. Animals seemed to be more adapt and sensing a person's true heart, though the animal didn't make any move to try and attack.

A few minutes later Hina returned with an armful of apples and Cell was reminded of her nasty fall out of the tree, though it seemed she had forgotten about it already. Her body showed clearly she had been injured, her arms were bruised and she had a cut across her cheek, but nothing bad.

"Here you go," she said as she placed all the apples down in front of Cell and then picked up one and gave it to Blossom. "I'll go open the barn for you so long," she said as she walked to the barn and opened the door.

Once the door was open she returned to Cell. "I need to go eat and sleep, I'm exhausted, I'll come back when I woke up," she said and then left, it wasn't like she could wait for a reply and he did understand her; in many aspects that made it easier.

Cell watched her go and once she was gone he started to devour the food, this arrangement would suit him well; he never would've guessed it would become so easy for him to grow.

x.X.x

(Next Day – 274)

Hina walked towards the barn with a bowl of muesli in her hand, it was still hard looking at her mother, but she tried to look passed it. Her mother looked dreadful and it was obvious she was punishing herself much more than Hina was.

When she entered the barn she found Cell lying close to the door. "Hey," she said as she put a mouthful of muesli in her mouth and began chewing.

Cell looked at her as she ate, this was the first time in a very long time that she was dressed in something other than her tattered clothing, her hair was washed and in a ponytail. She actually looked like a civilized human. "I suppose you're hungry," she said after she swallowed down another bite.

Cell merely nodded, it was not that he was hungry, he just _needed _to eat. "I'll go get you something in a second," she said and then smiled as she sat down and continued to eat. "I missed Blossom, going to ride her for a bit once I brought you the food Cell," she said and Cell found no desire to make any form of response of her useless babbling.

He couldn't wait for the day when he could finally dispose of the female.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Cell was watching her ride Blossom, from what he saw she had good form on the horse and the horse listened to her well. At least now that she was doing this she wasn't annoying him.

x.X.x

(Three months later - 364)

"Sheesh, you're taking forever to transform into that butterfly," Hina said as she looked at Cell chomp down some food and he was prone to agree with her, this was taking forever, but much faster than he suspected it would.

Hina gave a yawn as she leaned against the wooden wall of the barn. "Tomorrow I'm 20," she said with a soft laugh and this piqued Cell's interest, he looked up at the food and at her.

'So the girl is turning into a woman tomorrow, she must be happy,' he thought to himself and then continued to eat. It seemed she had completely grown accustomed to his intelligence, she spent most of her days in here with him babbling; something that annoyed him to a great deal, but he had gotten accustomed to it.

These days she came less and less though, so he assumed she had gotten something to preoccupy her; he was elated because that meant she didn't annoy him for hours on end.

"Mom wants to organize an entire party, I'm not really up to that," she said and then laughed again. "I think mom is trying to get me to socialize more, she said I'd never get married at the rate I'm going," she babbled and Cell snorted.

'You spend half your day talking to a bug and when it's time you're going to die, so no, you'll never get married,' he said in his mind as he was done eating. Food went too quickly because what he really craved was human bio-extract.

"Aah, what does it really matter, won't kill me," she mumbled and then stood straight and yawned. "Well, I'm off to bed, goodnight Cell," she said and then waved goodbye before leaving the barn.

**x.X.x**

**Well, the birthday is going to be interesting, feel free to leave a review. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, here's the next chapter. Please read and review.**

**x.X.x**

(One Day Later – 365)

Cell heard the commotion from the house and assumed it was her 'party' going on, the music was dreadful, but luckily he didn't have his super-hearing just yet or he would've gone crazy.

She had come earlier to give him food and even though she seemed happy that it was her birthday she also seemed nervous, he assumed it was about the thing her mother organized.

As he was still in thought the barn door flew open and he was shocked to see two teenagers stumble in, they were attached to other like they were Siamese twins, but they were doing to each other what no brother or sister would do.

Cell was about to hiss to make his presence known when he stopped; this was the perfect opportunity to absorb them and accelerate his growth greatly. He crawled towards them slowly and silently, they didn't notice him as they were too focused on each other.

All he needed to do was bite the males shin so that he couldn't move and then attack the female first. Judging by how hard the music was it would be impossible for anyone to hear their screams and it would be over quickly. The only problem would be the clothes that were going to be left behind, but he'd dispose of that easily enough.

'Time to feast,' he thought and then he attacked.

x.X.x

Cell was done absorbing them and he felt himself bulk up more, he was so close to transforming he could taste the power on his lips. He looked at the clothes of the humans and considered what to do with it.

Leaving it here would raise suspicion, he doubted that Hina would put two and two together since there would be no blood, but he was so close to hatching that he wasn't willing to risk it.

He picked up the clothes in his mouth and started to drag it towards a large haystack, he would bury in underneath that as he had never seen them touch the haystack. No one would look there.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

The barn door once more flew open and Cell was hoping to find another meal, but instead Hina stumbled in before sluggishly falling down on the ground and starting to laugh. Cell wondered what on earth was wrong with her, she seemed incredibly happy for someone who just fell down.

Hina looked towards Cell and then scooted over to him and put her arm over his exoskeleton and then she yawned. "I'm wasted," she muttered and Cell didn't understand the term until he got a whiff of her breath, she was drunk.

He assumed since she was here that the party was over and by the looks of things she enjoyed it. "I should never have trusted my mom's fruit-punch," she babbled sluggishly and Cell had the desire to lug her off him, but he didn't.

"It was nice though… the whole (hic)…snap, hiccups, I hate (hic) hiccups," she mumbled and Cell wanted to laugh as she continued to hic while trying to speak. "I'm so tired…" she mumbled and then hiccupped again and soon her babbling was barely audible and the next it was completely gone, instead replaced by her soft-breathing.

'Asleep,' he muttered in his mind as he kept still, lest he woke her up and she started to babble again.

x.X.x

(One hour later)

Cell saw the mother come into the barn and when she saw Hina against Cell she paled, Cell knew the mother didn't like his presence much and she had perfectly good reason to fear him.

After a few seconds she sighed and walked out again, Cell was hoping she would take her daughter, but that was a hope in hell obviously.

x.X.x

A few minutes later Jasmine entered the barn again, this time she was carrying a few blankets with her. She walked towards Hina as she looked at Cell. "She'll bring anything home it seems," Jasmine said to herself and Cell scowled, the mother didn't know he could understand her, but she better watch her mouth regardless.

Jasmine put the blankets over Hina gently and then sighed again. "Way too soft," she mumbled as she shifted the blankets correctly. "Don't hurt my daughter," Jasmine said as she pointed at Cell, obviously with no knowledge that he understood her, and then she left.

Cell rolled his eyes and then closed it, when he finally hunted them down the mother would have no idea what hit them, but she would be at peace knowing she was dying with her daughter.

x.X.x

(Next Day – 1 Year and 1 Day)

Hina yawned as she opened her eyes and was instantly confused when she was staring at the body of Cell. "What the?" She asked herself as she sat upright, the blankets falling off her. "Oh right, damn, I was drunk," she said and then closed her eyes. "Hangover," she mumbled and Cell shifted away from her, she looked towards him. "Morning," she said and then stood up as she stretched out.

"Mom is right, I'll never get married, want to know why?" She asked and Cell just nodded. "Because when I'm drunk I wake up next to a bug instead of a man," she said. "No offense," she quickly added.

Cell wasn't offended; he actually wanted to laugh at her answer because it was correct and funny. She smiled at him and then picked up the blankets. "I'm starving, I'll go get us some food," she said and then left towards the house to get her food and then some for Cell.

It seemed odd, but she had known him for an entire year and he had grown so much; she was terribly excited to see into what he changed.

x.X.x

(3 Weeks Later – 1 year, 22 days)

Cell was annoyed as Hell, he was but a few weeks away from transforming and the woman and her mother was gone. They had gone on a short _vacation_ as she had said before stockpiling the barn with food for him. Now would've been the perfect time to absorb the both of them, but they were _gone_.

'I need to find more food, I'm so close," he thought as he started to eat the stockpiled food; if he ate all of this now and consumed everything else he could be hatched within a week and he could hardly wait.

x.X.x

Hina was looking out of the window of her hotel room in Malibu, it was fun here but she missed the farm life and Cell, he was like the perfect thing to bounce ideas and feelings off.

She sighed as she watched the waves of the ocean.

x.X.x

(1 Week Later – 1 year, 29 days)

Cell felt his exoskeleton crack and the transformation start to take place. He had devoured everything on the farm, the entire plantation and everything he could find and it had worked, he was changing!

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Cell climbed from his shell and finally, after more than a year, stood upright again, breathed the air through his own nose and felt his own power again. He was whole again. "Finally," he said as he looked around the place, there was no human activity here so he would go elsewhere. Hina had said the closest town to here was Nicky Town, so that would be his target.

With that thought in mind he took to the air and sped off.

x.X.x

(1 day later – 1 year, 1 month)

The first thing Hina did when she got out of the car is run towards the barn to see both Blossom and Cell, but when she rounded the corner she was horrified. Every single fruit tree in the area was stripped of their fruit and all the vegetable plants were gone as well. "Cell," she muttered as she ran towards the barn, ignoring her mother's horrified scream when she saw the condition of her plants.

When Hina entered the barn her heart sank at what she saw, the empty shell of Cell, it was hollowed out as he finally hatched. "No…" She whispered as she walked towards it and ran her fingers around the brim of the shell. There was some form of icky purple liquid on it, but the bottom line was clear – Cell was gone.

"I didn't get to see it… he's just gone," she said as she started to look around the barn for any trace of him, any trace of the butterfly she assumed he had become; but there was nothing.

With a heavy heart she stepped out of the barn and went to help her mother sort out her farm and calm her down.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Cell stood in the middle of an empty and destroyed Nicky Town, his tail whipping around him dangerously. "The humans here helped little," he said to himself as he took to the sky again, he would attack the outlying villages now. He needed to gather more energy for now.

x.X.x

Hina was sitting in front of the television mortified when she saw the news headlines. "Mom!" She screamed and a second later her mother ran into the living room. "Nicky Town was attacked! All the people are gone!" She yelled and her mother's eyes widened as she ran towards the TV and when she saw the headlines she ran to the key-holder and grabbed her car-keys from it. "What are you doing?" Hina asked immediately and Jasmine turned back towards her.

"A friend of mine lives in Nicky Town," she almost screamed and Hina was to her feet in a second and by the side of her mothers. "I'll be back soon, I just need to go see if she was there when this happened," Jasmine said and then she was gone.

Hina tried to run after her and ask to go with, but her mother was out of the driveway quicker than she could speak. "Shit," Hina said as she ran towards her horse and quickly got on her, Nicky Town wasn't far and if her mother's friend was dead she wasn't going to be in any condition to drive back.

x.X.x

Cell cleaned out another town and found the humans gave meager amounts of energy, it wasn't enough. He needed the androids as soon as possible and that meant he had to find Dr. Gero, luckily he knew where the lab was.

x.X.x

Hina found her mother crying in the middle of the street and Hina didn't even need to ask, her friend was dead. "Mom, come with me," she said as she helped her crying mother to her feet.

Hina was shocked though, there wasn't a shred of blood anywhere in the town, but all the people were gone, the only thing left was their clothes; it was as if all of them just vanished into thin air, leaving their clothing behind.

x.X.x

(Three Weeks Later – 1 year, 1 month and 21 days)

Hina was in West City and frightened, the mystery killings were continuing and already a few dozen towns were left without any residents. Everything close to her house had been exterminated somehow and she was worried the same thing would happen to her while she was here. The only part that would not be bad is that she'd finally know what was going on.

People had said a monster was attacking the towns and a few survivors claimed the monster had superhuman strength. It was a scary and unrealistic scenario, but nothing about this so far had been realistic.

x.X.x

Cell hovered above West City and saw how the people bussed about, as if he hadn't killed any of them yet. "How careless," he murmured and then dropped down into the streets and started to feast.

**x.X.x**

**Well, I doubt it's hard to guess what is going to happen next, but anyway; hoped you enjoyed the chapter; will update as soon as I edit the next chapter and take it from the oneshot I wrote. (As I said, this was all just one big story, of over 177 pages and still not finished. I doubt anyone would've bothered to read it if I had just posted it like that.**

**Please note my story WILL get more interesting and a lot more humorous and sad.**

**Just READ further and you'll see. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, thanks for reading the previous chapter; this chapter is going to have a twist that might confuse some of you, however, PLEASE READ THE END NOTE.**

**x.X.x**

Hina was still shopping when she heard screams erupting inside the shopping centre and immediately she knew it was happening. She ducked behind one of the aisles and held her breath as the screams continued.

x.X.x

Cell absorbed another person in the shopping centre and then turned his attention to the next and smirked when he saw a child standing in one of the aisles, she looked petrified of him; but it did not matter. It would be better to kill the child anyhow, her parents were dead now and soon she'd be as well.

x.X.x

Hina was still hiding when she heard the crying of a child and she thought of Jade and suddenly something snapped in her as she jumped from behind the aisle and ran towards the child she could see crying, not paying attention to anything else. She couldn't let the child die, not like she let Jade die.

x.X.x

Cell watched in humor as a female grabbed the child into her arms and held her to her chest. "You just line up to die," he hissed out as he raised his tail, he was about to strike when he felt the aura of the woman and it took him no more than a second to realize it was Hina; he had gotten used to her aura so he could easily recognize it.

He watched as she clutched the crying child to her without turning around to look at him and he smirked. It seems they were back from their vacation after all and now she was playing the hero.

He noticed she had cut her hair until her shoulders; it was different since he mostly remembered her long hair. And now here she was, standing between him and his meal and actually making herself a meal as well. 'It's about time I killed you,' he said in his mind as he shot his tail forward and into her back.

Hina felt a sharp penetrating feeling in her back and immediately screamed out of pain as she held onto the child tighter, but when she felt the energy in her body leave her she let go of the child. "Run," she whispered to the child and the girl did, leaving her alone.

Cell watched as the child ran away from him and suddenly he stopped draining Hina, she had told the child to run. He supposed she was protective of children due to her own dilemma with her sister.

He pulled the tail point from her back and she immediately toppled forward and started breathing harshly. Blood was seeping through her white blouse, creating a crimson spot that was looked like it was blossoming.

Blood was a beautiful sight to him, it could mean both life and death and this time it meant life. The girl had shown kindness to him so he would return it this one time by sparing her life, but if he ran into her again he would not do so again.

Hina was still breathing harshly when she heard the footsteps move away from her and no further attack was made on her. She quickly got to her knees and turned around on the tiled floor to get a look at the attacker and when she did her mouth fell open.

She could only see his back and what she saw gave her déjà vu, it was unmistakable, the same pattern was on this creature. "Cell?" She asked in surprise and the monster stopped.

Cell heard the surprise in her voice and stopped; he looked over his shoulder and saw her eyes were wide with shock. "Hina," he greeted in return and then crouched down on the ground before taking off through the roof.

Hina watched as the debris fell from where he just 'jumped' through the roof and she watched in idle fascination as it did so. Her mind was spinning in circles, it was Cell because he had called her by her name and those eyes… he had those same catlike eyes and now he could speak, he could_ speak_.

"That's no butterfly," she muttered and a second later everything went dark and her head met with the tiled floor.

x.X.x

Cell was standing far above the shopping centre when he heard her comment and he snickered. "Sorry to disappoint you," he sneered to himself and then took off towards South City. He had already provoked the attention of the z-fighters, but at the moment they were still weaker than him and were avoiding his presence. The androids still hadn't come forth so it meant they were still in the lab, soon he would go there.

x.X.x

"Hina! Hina!" Jasmine yelled as she put her hands on her daughters arm, the medics had found her in a shopping centre with a stab wound in her back. They were currently in West City Hospital, there wasn't any staff left, but the medics were more than capable of handling her.

Hina heard her mother, but didn't have the energy to open her eyes so instead she just squeezed her mother's hand as she went into thought. 'What have you become?' She asked in her mind.

Was he the monster that had been terrorizing the cities? Killing all the humans, even children? How could he be that when she had known him for over a year and he had not shown such aggression towards her, he hadn't even been strong!

She felt saddened, she didn't want to face that fact but it was true and it was her fault, she had fed and nurtured Cell; helped him evolve into this…humanoid thing that killed for pleasure. How was that even possible? Was he an alien after all?

She saw no other answer, he had been a bug and turned into a humanoid, he was not human at all.

"Oh baby, are you okay?" Jasmine asked as she squeezed her hand back and Hina nodded, she didn't want to speak either. Her heart had dropped through her chest with the realization of Cell.

For now she would just like to lie in silence and work things through.

x.X.x

Cell was standing in front of the giant steel doors of Dr. Gero's lab, he had been curious about his creator since the day he could open his eyes for the first time and now he would finally meet the man that made him.

"Who are you?" A voice suddenly boomed and Cell looked for the source of the voice and found a small microphone embedded in the door, above it was a camera. "You're not welcome here," the voice continued and Cell recognized it as Dr. Gero's, the man's voice had been with him since he was but a mere cell.

"Open up old man, I'm here to discuss your androids," Cell said and Dr. Gero was silent. "I have the full capabilities of knocking this door down, besides…" Cell gave a laugh. "I believe you'd want to have a little talk with me," he added. Dr. Gero hadn't yet started to make him, but he had obviously worked on the blueprints already.

"Why is that?" Dr. Gero asked now. "And how do you know about my androids?" He added and Cell laughed again.

"Let me in and I'll tell you," Cell said as he began firing up a blast. "Or I let myself in, the choice is yours Gero," Cell said immediately saw as the doors began to open.

"No need to make a ruckus, come in," Gero said and Cell laughed as he stepped inside the lab.

Once he was inside he was instantly surrounded by a few androids that he could see were merely good as guards. "What do you want with me?" Dr. Gero asked as he stepped forward. Cell saw he had already turned himself into an android and standing next to him was a pulpous white faced android he had never seen before, though it seemed to be of the same design as Gero.

"Call away your pets," Cell demanded and Gero made no such move so Cell instead lifted his finger and pointed it towards the pulpous android and a second later a red beam shot from it and went right through the brain of the android.

Gero gasped as he saw his creation fall to the ground, dead, and he instantly recognized the ability the monster had used, it was Frieza's. He looked back towards the monster and speculated on what he was, he could sense energy from him and it was powerful. More powerful than he was and he was starting to think it was more powerful than 17 and 18.

"Who are you?" Dr. Gero asked after telling his guards to step back, there was no point as this creature would be able to wipe them easily, considering what he had done to 19.

"You don't recognize your own creation?" She asked with a laugh as he looked around the place and soon his eyes landed on the capsules of 17 and 18.

"What?" Dr. Gero asked as he looked at the monster, how could this be his creation? He never created something like this, it was organic. "No…wait," he said as he took a step closer and examined him carefully. "Cell?" He asked in shock and Cell merely laughed.

"Yes, I am Cell," he said and Dr. Gero immediately ran to one of his tables and starting scrambling around on it, when he found the blueprint he was looking for he ran back to Cell.

"But impossible, I have not even started designing you yet! I'm still collecting the cells for your design!" He yelled as he continued to examine Cell.

"I came from the future, 23 years from now," he said and Dr. Gero gave a speculating nod as he looked from his blueprints to Cell repeatedly. "The androids I am meant to absorb were killed in that time," he said and Dr. Gero's eyes widened.

"Absorb? I thought of adding that to make you stronger…but I haven't decided on it yet…" he mused and Cell could understand why the doctor was beyond himself, he was witnessing his ultimate creation.

"Yes, indeed," Cell said and then walked towards the pods for 17 and 18. "So, if you don't mind, allow me to become perfect," he said and Dr. Gero immediately ran in front of Cell.

"No, you cannot, not yet," he said and Cell didn't understand why.

"Why not? It's in my design," he said.

"Yes, but not in theirs, I was still going to add the modification to them to allow for it to trigger your transformation, they're just androids still, they are not your trigger," he said and Cell was disappointed to hear this, but it was understandable.

"Very well, how long would it take for you to compile this into their systems?" He asked and Dr. Gero began thinking.

"I would say… a few weeks at most, I'd need to scan you though, to make sure the trigger is the correct one," he said and Cell sighed in annoyance, but nodded. "Good, please come with me Cell," he said and Cell idly followed, there was no other choice.

x.X.x

(1 Week Later – 1 year, 1 month and 29 Days)

Hina was sitting in the barn and looking at the shell of Cell, she still hadn't removed it and it was starting to disintegrate more and more, soon nothing would be left. To think that creature was sitting inside the shell and waiting to break free, waiting for the day it could start killing.

The stab wound on her back still hurt, but luckily he hadn't killed her and she wondered why. It was obvious he had only used her to get food and since he had killed children without a thought she had thought he wouldn't hesitate with her.

He would continue to kill until he was eventually stopped, but she saw how he _flew _away and…there were more news reports of him destroying towns, leaving nothing but rubble. How could anything destroy him? The only way would be to get close enough to him to stab him or shoot him, otherwise it was pointless.

She ran the possibility of trying that through her mind and wondered if it would work, and if she missed him it would mean her death and she certainly didn't want to die, but if she didn't try, other people would die and that was just as bad, if not worse.

She got up as her mind was made.

x.X.x

(2 Days Later – 1 year, 2 months)

Cell hovered over East City, it seemed the people had noticed him because they were starting to run, or drive, away.

x.X.x

Hina looked up at the sky when someone yelled 'he is here,' before running. Everyone around her was running away and she had been right, he had struck all the cities except this one and now he was here. "Cell!" She screamed up at the sky as she put her hand on the gun latched onto her belt.

Cell looked down as he heard his name being yelled and he noticed Hina in the middle of the chaos, standing still while everyone else ran away screaming.

"Idiot," he said to himself as he dropped down on the ground and started to walk towards her.

Hina watched as he came towards her and she saw his tail swishing behind him and the next second it shot passed her and she heard someone screaming behind her, she swung around and saw as Cell had stabbed a man with it in the stomach, she stared in horror but screamed when she saw the man dissolve in front of her eyes until nothing but clothing was left.

She put her hand to her mouth as she turned back towards Cell and was immediately greeted by his chest; she took a step back in shock as she was still petrified over what she had just seen. What did he do to the people?

She pulled out the gun and immediately pulled the trigger, the sound of the gun resonated above the screaming, but Cell didn't fall down, there wasn't even a wound. 'Did I miss?' she asked herself in her mind, how could she have missed, he was at point-blank range!

She pulled out the knife and pulled it down on his chest, knowing she would not miss and she didn't; but instead of sinking into his flesh the knife scattered until nothing but the hilt remained.

She jumped back in shock as she looked at the hilt of the knife and the broken pieces on the ground and then back up at Cell, he wasn't hurt at all and he seemed amused!

Cell stared at her in amusement, had she thought she'd be able to kill him with puny mortal weapons? "Idiot," he said to her now.

"What have you become?" She asked as she took another step back.

"I was always this," he answered and she shook her head.

"No, you were my friend!" She yelled in argument and Cell started to laugh.

"Please, don't flatter yourself, you were never that to me," he said and it seemed his words hurt her.

"Then what was I?" She asked softly.

Cell smirked. "You were nothing more than someone who helped me grow, I wanted to kill you the day I met you, but your human stupidity decided to instead take me as a 'pet'. You are a fool if you think I wanted to be in your presence for even one second, you annoyed me to death!" He yelled and then shot his tail out towards her, he expected her to run and evade it, but instead she just stood still and stared at him with wide-eyes.

Hina saw the point of the tail stop a few centimeters from her face, but that didn't bother her, what bothered her is what he had said. "You hated every moment?" She asked.

Cell retracted his tail as he folded his arms. "No, some were amusing, like when you fell from the tree and when you came to me drunk on your birthday," he said and he snickered inwardly at what she had said when she woke up the next morning.

"Oh," she answered as she looked down and away from him, how could he be such a monster? She felt like she didn't know him at all.

"So is that it girl? You just came here to try and kill me and make meager conversations, or is there actually a point?" He asked and she looked up at him again, into his eyes and all she could see was evil.

"Nothing I say will make a difference, so no, there's no point, that was it," she replied and Cell lifted his tail up menacingly and then edged it closer to her until it was right by her heart.

"Then you are an even greater fool than I thought," he said as he pierced her chest with the tip, her eyes widened and she looked down. "Goodbye Hina," he said as he started to absorb her energy.

She looked back up at him as she felt herself get weaker and weaker. "Goodbye Cell, thanks for the friendship," she whispered and then closed her eyes as she sank to the ground, feeling as her body was growing too thin for the clothes she was wearing.

Cell raised an eyebrow at her sentence, 'What friendship?' he thought as he stopped absorbing her, there was nothing left. He looked at her clothing and felt her energy within him, it was vibrant and he welcomed it.

He looked around East City and started going after the people that had ran away, he would find them.

**x.X.x**

**This is NOT the end of the story and she MIGHT or MIGHT not come back, however, if I told you anything then you'd know something you're not supposed to know yet; just read on and you'll soon get the point of things. **

**Please Review **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope you enjoyed the previous chapter, please R&R**

**Oh yeah, I see some people have added me to their alert list, so please guys, if the story is worth reading, drop a line to say you like it, or even if you don't like. Feedback is always appreciated.**

**x.X.x**

(Otherworld – Yemma Office)

"Hina Yale, age 20," the giant red man said and Hina was blue in her face as she stared up at him, where was she and why couldn't she see her body? All she could see was white plumes hovering around her, where was she?

"Am I dead?" She managed to ask after a few seconds and the giant red man gave a nod as if he didn't care and she figured he didn't. "So he killed me," she whispered to herself as she looked down at the red carpet leading up to the man's giant desk.

"Hmmm, seems your deeds are pretty clean, except for the last year or so," Yemma said as he looked at a big notebook in his hands, Hina looked up at him. "You befriended a monster and then got killed by it?" Yemma asked as he looked down at her and she looked away.

"I didn't know," she confessed and Yemma brought his pen up to his lip as he went into thought.

"Well, I suppose that doesn't merit you a trip to H.F.I.L, but it does scar your reputation of going up to the higher-plane," he said and Hina thought he might as well been speaking Latin, she didn't understand a word of what he was saying.

"Excuse me, sir?" Hina asked and Yemma looked down at her, waiting for her question. "Why can't I see my hands? What's this smoke around me?" She asked and Yemma sighed.

"You're dead Hina; you're a soul so you _are _that white smoke. You no longer possess your body," he said and Hina gasped as she tried to prove him wrong by seeing any part of her body, but all she saw was the smoke.

"Can't I keep my body? Like you?" She asked hastily, she wasn't comfortable with any of this and this only made it worse.

Yemma shook his head. "Sorry, you didn't do anything worthy of retaining your body when up here," he said and she scowled, not sure whether her 'smoky visage' was also scowling.

"You say that like I'll be alive again soon," she said, in was a hope in hell, but what did she have to lose after everything that's happened?

"Well… let's see," Yemma said as he looked at her entry. "Ah, North Quadrant, Earth; yes, I suppose you will be alive again soon when they wish you back," he said and Hina's eyes widened.

"What? Wish me back? What are you talking about?" She asked and Yemma stared at her with bemusement, he didn't like talking to common souls much as they always had questions.

"On your planet there are special items that can grant wishes, the people who are going to kill this monster will use these items to reverse any damage he has done, that includes you," Yemma said and Hina suddenly started laughing.

"Oh my gosh, thank GOD," she yelled as she started to bounce up and down, seeing the white smoke around her go up and down with her.

"Yes, yes, now move along," Yemma said as he pointed to the left and she gave a solemn nod as she headed in that direction, he didn't look like someone she wanted on her bad side. She didn't know how it was possible to be brought back to life but all that mattered was that it WAS possible.

x.X.x

(One Week Later)

Cell was doing a few rounds at the cities he had been to already, cleaning up what he had missed. He was amused though, plastered on all the walls were missing people reports, among them were Hina. Did the people truly think their 'family and friends' were coming back? What a joke.

Pretty soon Dr. Gero would be done customizing the androids and then he would murder all of the fighters, might just keep Piccolo alive so that he can wish all the fighters back, just to kill them again.

There was no way they would be prepared for him when he was ultimate; they were still struggling with this form of him. It would be a disappointing fight when he was complete, but it would be one non-the-less.

x.X.x

"What is that thing, this doesn't make any sense!" Vegeta yelled as he had been comparing his strength against this monster for the past couple of weeks and it horrified him to realize it was a hundred times more powerful than him.

"I don't know…it's…not an android, I can sense it," he said as he was feeling the same as Vegeta, Trunks had left only a couple of months ago and then this thing shows up, what was it? It was far stronger than his description of the androids and it wasn't an android, or at least not one he had ever encountered.

"Kakkerot…" Vegeta said as perspiration started to build on his forehead. "…what are we going to do?" He asked, he had never before deemed it necessary to admit defeat or ask advice for his arch-enemy… but this was too much, too powerful.

"I…I don't know…" Goku admitted.

x.X.x

Hina was floating around in some grassy patch, this was boring, this didn't compare to living. She missed her mother and wondered whether she was even still alive, if she was dead she doubted she would even recognize her, since she'd be a fuzzy cloud as well.

"Get me out of here 'people who will kill Cell'," she begged towards the eternal blue sky of the otherworld.

x.X.x

Jasmine knew it, after two weeks she just knew it, her daughter was dead and there was nothing she could do about it but mourn; her day would come soon with that monster running amok and she could honestly say she couldn't wait for that day.

x.X.x

(One Week Later)

Cell was standing in front of Dr. Gero as the two androids were carefully laid out on a table. "This should be perfect," he said and Cell was surprised he was willing to offer them up so easily, though it had been his plan in a way.

"Aah, I can hardly wait," Cell said and then looked at Dr. Gero. "I'll be back to show you your work once I absorbed them, but my calculations tell me that your lab will not be able to hold the transformation," he said and Dr. Gero immediately nodded.

"I was about to bring up that very thing myself," he said and with that Cell grabbed hold of the two androids and left the lab, taking them about a mile away.

x.X.x

Cell absorbed the first android and immediately felt himself changing, morphing, the doctor had done it right! He was becoming complete!

x.X.x

"Aah, what is that energy!" Goku yelled as he balled his fists and Vegeta was taking a few steps back, as if from an invisible foe.

"Kakkerot… it's huge," Vegeta said, he had never felt anything so powerful.

"Wait… it's getting…stronger!" Gohan yelled and both Vegeta and Goku noticed the power had skyrocketed within a matter of seconds, as if the creature had delved into a previously unknown power.

x.X.x

Cell had just finished absorbing the second android and he stared down at his hands, instead of his bug like hands, two pure white hands greeted him. "Aah, perfection at last," he murmured in a completely different voice, one that was gentle and harsh at the same time.

"Time to go greet my maker…" he said with a laugh and then took off towards the lab. He didn't think even Dr. Gero fully understood what he had created.

x.X.x

"We…can't win… we just can't…" Goku breathed out, he was exhausted just from _feeling _the energy.

"Kakkerot…" Vegeta said, but didn't try to argue, he felt it, it was a billion times stronger than Frieza, more even. It was so powerful it felt like his head was going to explode.

x.X.x

"Cell…" Dr. Gero said when he looked upon his ultimate creation, he looked almost human, he was perfect. "How strong are you?" Dr. Gero asked, he couldn't detect it, his scanners scrambled whenever he tried.

"Let's just say…" Cell started to laugh. "…Goku would be mere child's play, he is no match, remember, you created me to beat him in 23 years… not now," Cell said and Dr. Gero nodded rapidly, his eyes bulging.

"Then go, kill him, avenge me," Dr. Gero said and Cell snickered.

"Come now old man, I don't want it to be a one-hit-kill, I want a challenge," he said and Dr. Gero seemed to be appalled for a second, but then smirked.

"Well, I guess I did program that into you," he said and Cell merely smirked.

"Yes, you did, I will go to these warriors and grant them nine-days to advance to my level, if they cannot, they will die," he said and Dr. Gero found that a laughable amount of time, nine _years _couldn't prepare them for the coming of Cell.

"Well, go do that then," he said and Cell nodded and then took off, he had no desire to kill the old man like 18 and 17 had done, he actually found him to be quite enlightening and he had a deep respect for the man for bringing him to life, even though he was a mortal, or used to be.

x.X.x

Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan and everyone else was atop the lookout when they felt the huge power approach them. "It knows we're here," Vegeta said and Goku merely nodded as he waited.

x.X.x

Cell arrived at the lookout a few seconds later, only to find a bunch of petrified warriors. "What a welcoming party," he said with a laugh and they took a step back, they were so weak he could swat them all like flies.

"I've come to give you a chance," Cell said and Goku immediately stepped forward.

"Who are you?" He asked and Cell smirked.

"My name is Cell, but that matters little, I've come to say I've giving you an entire nine days to prepare, within nine days I'll be holding a tournament to challenge any and everyone who deems themselves worthy, watch the TV for further details," he said and then turned away. "Oh and… try not to disappoint me," he said with a final word and then blasted off to announce the tournament and build his ring, it was a perfect idea.

x.X.x

Hina was just idly floating around, how long did it take to kill him? An eternity? She wanted to be wished back!

x.X.x

(9 Days Later)

"Oh you've got to be kidding me, this is the best you could muster up?" Cell asked as he was crushing Goku's skull to the ground, he was still alive, but barely. Cell sighed as he removed his foot from Goku's head. "I'm disappointed, what fun will it be to destroy this planet when it provided me no challenge?" He asked as he looked at the scattered, half-dead warriors.

"Give…give us more time," Goku muttered out and Cell looked down at him.

"More time? You think you'd get better with _more _time?" He asked and Goku nodded. "Now really… do you think I'd just laze around while you do that? I'll be training as well, you'll never beat me," he said and Goku coughed up blood.

"Let us…try…" he begged and Cell considered this, it would be absolutely no fun if he destroyed the planet now.

"Very well _Goku_, I will grant you this time, in the meanwhile, your planet belongs to me, oh…and…prepare to die," Cell said as he held his hand out to Goku, Goku's eyes widened.

"But…you said," Goku argued and Cell laughed.

"Don't get melodramatic on me, I _know _what I said, I plan to wish you and everyone I killed back to life to make this interesting and also to discard the use of the dragon balls for an entire year. So relax, your visit will be quick, the radar is built into my system," he said and Goku tried to get up to fight but Cell immediately blasted him into oblivion.

He then went around and killed everyone except Piccolo; it was definitely not satisfactory this way.

When he was done he set out to find the dragon balls.

x.X.x

(One Day Later)

Cell called upon the dragon and wished for all the damage he had inflicted to be reversed and the dragon had done so. He did feel a small portion of his energy leaving him since the people he absorbed were no longer part of him.

x.X.x

Goku and the rest of his friends got to their feet completely stunned. "He did it guys… he wished us back…" Goku said in disbelief, he hadn't thought Cell would do that. "So…" Goku's face turned serious. "Let's get to business, we don't have a second to waste," he said and everyone nodded and then took off.

x.X.x

Hina opened her eyes and found herself lying in the middle of North City, the place she had died. She shot up and looked around. "Oh my god," she said and then started to run, run back to her house to hug her mother, to tell her she was fine

This meant Cell was gone, he was dead.

"Dead," she said in her head, but she didn't feel anything from the word, no sadness or happiness, just nothingness.

**x.X.x**

**I know it was a quick revival, but from this point onward the story gets…more depth and more interesting, with a lot more humor and other stuff. So please Review. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Well, this is where the story really begins; so enjoy.**

**x.X.x**

Cell floated over the cities he once destroyed and stared at it in a meager sense of fascination. He had no desire or reason to destroy them now, but he owned them, whether they knew it or not. Earth belonged to him and soon he would announce it.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

"Hina!" Jasmine yelled as she flew at her daughter and embraced her, pulling her against her chest and holding her tight. "I thought… I thought you were dead…where were you?" She asked and Hina didn't have the heart to tell her she had really been dead.

"Doesn't matter mom, doesn't matter, but I'm back," she said as she clutched onto her mother. Cell was dead now, everything would get better.

x.X.x

Cell arrived at the office of the 'apparent' ruler of the city and walked towards his building, he saw everyone scatter but it didn't matter. He would know if the president ran, he had locked onto his energy.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

"Hina, Hina!" Jasmine yelled from the living room and Hina came running in, a sandwich stuffed in her mouth, she had spent weeks without food up there and now she was starving. "He's alive, he's still alive, I though you said he was dead!" Jasmine yelled and Hina looked at the TV.

But all she could see was a relatively handsome man in a bug suit holding the president by his throat. "Mom, that's not him, that looks like a normal man in a suit," he said and her mother looked at her.

"Don't you know? He changed, he morphed somehow!" Her mother yelled and Hina dropped the sandwich as she looked at Cell, how can he still live and she be alive?

"I bet some of you are wondering how you are _here _again," Cell said and Hina knew what he meant, even if her mother didn't. "I brought you back, I defeated every warrior of earth and now I'm taking claim of this place, anyone who wants to challenge me for it is welcome to challenge me, raise your energy and I'll come to you to give you the fighting chance," he said and then dropped the president, which appeared to be dead, to the ground.

"This planet is mine now, you are my slaves and I rule you, but go about your normal day like you would until I say otherwise," he said and then blasted through the wall, leaving a trail of white energy behind.

Hina fell down on the couch, he was different, completely different, he looked _human_, he _sounded _human, but he wasn't and he was still alive. "No… no," she whispered and then ran from the living room towards her room.

x.X.x

(Few months later)

Cell was hovering above one of the houses in North City, people used to run when they saw him, but they no longer did, they merely avoided him. He had no reason to destroy them until he was sure he had gotten everything out of Goku that he desired. He tolerated the people and they tolerated him.

But there was something amiss, he was listening to the family inside with his advanced hearing, they were laughing and then fighting, and then laughing again, sometimes someone cried, but it always ended in laughter. He didn't understand it, but he wanted to know what it was and why. How could someone fight, be reduced to tears and then laugh about it?

With a grunt he set off towards Dr. Gero's lab, Dr. Gero had not been happy with his decision to bring Goku back to life, but could say nothing about it, so Cell went to visit him frequently, the man was intelligent and he was sure he had an answer to this question.

x.X.x

Hina stared down at her bloodied hands and grunted. "Sweetie, dinners ready," she heard her mother yell and with that she stood upright and wrapped her hands in bandages.

She didn't know exactly how strong Cell was, but she knew he was strong enough to knock down walls, so that was what she was trying to do. She didn't quite see flying in her sights just yet, but she wanted to fight him, she wanted to try and free her planet.

He hadn't done anything aggressive to the planet, yet, but she knew that would end soon, she could see he was waiting for something and when he was done waiting it would be over for everyone.

x.X.x

"Gero," Cell said as he entered the lab and Dr. Gero looked up from some paperwork and greeted Cell back. "I have a question regarding humanity," he said and Dr. Gero straightened up as he took off his reading glasses.

"Yes?"

"Why is it that mortals quarrel and then make up?" He asked and Dr. Gero seemed taken off-guard by the question because he coughed.

"How do you mean?"

"I watched this mortal family for a few days now, they fight, cry and then laugh about it, why is that, why do they laugh?" He asked and Dr. Gero wiped his brow.

"It's a trait humanity has," he answered truthfully. "They work differently than you do, I didn't program that into you because I didn't deem it necessary to understand," he said and Cell narrowed his eyes.

"I hate not understanding, so explain it to me," he threatened and Dr. Gero immediately straightened up and nodded, he had no desire to be killed by one of his own creations.

"Humans tend to fight, they tend to cry and they tend to laugh, that is the general makeup of their being. They can fight one moment, then laugh and then cry, and it can be in any order, but they are like that. When laughter is attached to the end it usually means it's a family, they're together, bonded by marriage and love," he said and Cell scrunched his eyes.

"Hina used to cry and then laugh," he said and Dr. Gero looked confused.

"Hina?" he questioned and Cell nodded.

"Yes, a mortal who 'fed' me while I was in my larval state, she had no idea what I was then, such an idiot," he said and Dr. Gero laughed.

"Yes, that's another human fault, the maternal instinct, she wanted to protect and feed you because she saw you as weaker than herself, she wanted to make sure you were safe, what an idiotic thought if you look at it now," he said and Cell smirked.

"Indeed, especially when I killed it," he said and then suddenly realized she was alive again, since he had brought her back. "Hmmm… perhaps it would be best to ask this questions to a mortal as well, no offense doctor," he said and Dr. Gero laughed.

"You can try that, but I doubt there'd be a mortal out there willing to speak to you," he said and Cell scoffed as he took off, Hina would talk or she would die and so would her mother. He still remembered where they lived. He never forgot anything and he had Goku's nifty technique now.

x.X.x

Hina was done eating when she went outside again, She stood in front of her training dummy and pulled back her fist, as she punched forward she felt her hand connect with the dummy, but it felt harder and her knuckles crunched painfully. "Shit," she muttered as she closed her eyes.

"_What _are you doing?" She heard a voice ask and she snapped her eyes open, she found her fist against the chest of Cell and with a start she jumped back and brought her fist to her, holding it with her other hand. She was more surprised by how much it hurt to punch him than the fact that he was here.

She had spent months building herself up, only to find out he was harder than a cement wall, how was that possible and he didn't even flinch when she hit him.

Cell stared at her wide eyes and suddenly sighed. "Great, just as fearful as the rest," he said and then turned around, about to leave to find another mortal to answer his question, but he instantly felt her hand on his shoulder.

He turned back to her.

"What do you want Cell?" She asked coldly and he smirked.

"Is that how you thank someone who revived you?"

"You killed me in the first place!" She snapped and he merely laughed.

"Let's not make it a second time, shall we?" He proposed and she went white in her face. "That bad?" He quizzed and she looked away from him.

"You have no idea," she said and he laughed again. "I repeat, what do you want?" She asked as she now looked back at him, his pink eyes burned at her, it was no longer catlike, but somehow just as frightening.

"I have a question…regarding…mortals," he said and she instantly scowled. "Since you exhibited two symptoms of what I identified, I thought you'd offer a better explanation than what I received already," he said and she scoffed.

"Like you'd understand," she said and he grabbed her by her throat within a split second and lifted her into the air.

"Do not mock me mortal!" He yelled as he pulled back his fist. "You're no use," he said and as he was about to kill her he saw her mother come running out of the house.

"Hina!" Her mother yelled and Cell snapped his eyes towards her.

"Stay away or die with her," Cell said as he turned back to Hina, but to his surprise Jasmine came running towards him anyway, he immediately moved his free hand towards the mother and fired up a blast.

"NO!" Hina screamed as she used all the force in her body to tackle him down on the ground, his blast going haywire. "Mom, run!" She yelled and her mother looked at her and shook her head. "GO!" She yelled and with that her mother ran, not into the house, but away.

"That is why you'll never understand!" She yelled at Cell as she sat atop him, tears streaming down her face. "You'll never understand because you don't want to!" She continued to yell. "You don't know what it's like!" She screamed in final desperation.

Cell watched her in silent confusion. "You just sealed your fate," he said after a few seconds and then knocked her off him and got to his feet, he looked at her as she was crying and on the ground.

He held his hand out to her to blast her, but then lowered it. "See, that's what I don't understand, why are you crying now? You should've known you were going to die when I grabbed you by your neck, but you didn't shed a tear then, or when I killed you the first time, why now?" He asked and she looked up at him, her black hair plastered to her face due to the tears.

"Why?" She asked, as if mortified. "Why didn't I cry when I knew I was going to die, but now?" She asked in disbelief and he nodded. "Oh god," she said as she wiped the tears from her face and got to her feet.

When she was to her feet she tore the bandages from her hands and held her bloodied knuckles out to Cell. "You see that?" She asked and he scowled at her.

"Do I appear blind to you?" He snapped and she let out a quick laugh.

"This is from my training to take you on," she said and Cell laughed now.

"You should know that's hopeless, that just proves your idiocy," he said and she growled softly.

"I know fairly well that I stand no chance, I'm not stupid either," she said and Cell crossed his arms now.

"Then why even try?" He asked and she stepped closer to him boldly and then poked him in his chest.

"Hope!" She yelled as she suddenly pushed him back, he allowed it. "Hope! Do you even know what that means?" She asked and he scowled as he grabbed her wrist when she attempted to shove him again.

"Yes," he said as he squeezed her wrist hard enough that she flinched. "Like I'm sure you're hoping that I don't break your wrist right now," he said and she started laughing now.

Cell got a flashback of when she laughed when she fell out of the tree, he didn't understand why she laughed back then and he didn't understand why she was laughing now. "Why are you laughing? You were crying a second ago!" He yelled and she continued to laugh. "Tell me!" He screamed as he squeezed her wrist harder, the pain made her laugh stick in her throat, so instead she lowered her head.

"Because it doesn't matter what you do, or who you kill, or how you rule, you'll never understand us, you'll never be one of us," she said and Cell scowled now.

"Why would I want to be one of you, you're weak!" He yelled and she looked into his eyes now.

"Because we have love," she said and Cell pulled a disgusted face at that sentence.

"Why would I need that? I saw what it did to you, since your sister… Jade… died," he said and Hina's eyes went wide at the mention of her sister.

"You don't see the bigger picture?" She asked in shock and Cell had to admit that he didn't.

"No, I don't," he answered as he still held onto her wrist.

"What did that knowledge do to me?" She asked him and he thought for a second.

"You told me you went…silent… for a while, but when you found out you left home, lived in the forest, what about it?" He asked and she started laughing again, so he squeezed her wrist once more, but she didn't stop laughing.

"It made me stronger," she said shortly and Cell snorted.

"No, it didn't," he replied and she continued to laugh.

"When I thought it was a lost cause, I went morbid, saddened, dead inside, but when I found a reason for the turmoil I rebelled, I fought back and I escaped, escaped to live with it and in turn I became stronger. Not just physically, but mentally." She said and then looked up into his eyes, her emerald eyes were burning. "Do you have any idea what type of inner strength it took for me to return to her, return to my mother?" She asked and Cell snorted again.

"That's not strength, you returned to your suffering, you became weaker than you were when you left," he argued and she suddenly pulled her wrist loose from his grip and backhanded him through the face.

He looked at her stunned; did she have a death-wish?

"You idiot! I came back because I love her and I learned to _forgive _her, you'll never understand that concept, it takes greater strength to forgive than it takes to destroy," she said and Cell watched as she shook in front of him, angry as hell.

"I think it is you who do not understand the full concept of power,"

"I do, and I can see what it has done to you, it has consumed you," she answered and Cell smirked.

"Power has not consumed me, if it has, I would not have given the very warriors, who fights for you and everyone else, a chance to try again, I would've destroyed this pitiful place and moved on," he said and she hadn't realized those men were still alive.

"These people… do they have families?" She asked suddenly and Cell found her question bizarre.

"Yes, the two strongest each have a son and wife," he said and he could see her eyes softening at his sentence, but he didn't understand why.

"And…when you defeated them… what did they say?"

"To give them another chance, to get stronger," he said and Hina smiled suddenly. "Why are you smiling?" He asked and she continued to smile.

"The person who said that… didn't care about strength…didn't care about beating you," she said on a whim, but she was sure it was true.

"What are you rambling about? There was no other reason!" He yelled and she shook her head.

"No… it wasn't about that… all that person wanted to do was greet their family, say goodbye even, they wanted to live to live with them and I will bet my life on that," she said and Cell laughed.

"Your life is in my hands, but very well, I'll go ask him," he said and then took off to where he felt Goku's aura.

Hina watched him go, but didn't know what to think. How could anyone be so confused about what it meant to be human? "Mom!" She yelled suddenly and then set off to find her, she would stay here with her mom because she was positive she was right, he would have no reason to kill her.

**x.X.x**

**From this point onward Hina becomes a more active part of the story and you'll see why in the next chapter. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Right, I understand that my character might come forth as Mary Sue to some of you, however, that is not the case, trust me on that one. **

**Anyway, please R&R. **

**x.X.x**

Cell arrived at the apparent house of Goku and immediately Goku came outside, he looked petrified, more than he did at the ring. "Why so bleak Goku? I said I wouldn't fight you until you're ready," he said and Goku looked around frantically.

"You leave them alone!" He yelled and Cell raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Chi-Chi and Gohan, you leave them alone, you hear me Cell, your fight is with me!" He yelled and Cell looked at Goku with amusement.

"Your family?" He asked and Goku merely nodded. "That is, in fact, why I'm here," he said and Goku immediately went on the defense, he kept on looking behind him to make sure his family was still safe and Cell could sense both the boy and the woman in the house.

"When you asked for me to let you live, what was the reason?" He asked and Goku was shocked by the question.

"To get stronger," he answered and Cell smirked.

"Thought so, I'll be-"

"But that was a lie, in a sense, to please you," Goku interrupted. "My wife and my son, I wanted to see them again," he said and Cell grimaced, so the girl had been right after all.

"I highly doubt that, let me test that," Cell said as he extended his hand towards the house of Goku and Goku's eyes widened. "You may choose, your life or theirs, bear in mind you're the only person who can possibly save earth from me," he said and Goku immediately blinked in front of him.

"Me," he said and Cell lowered the blast.

"Why?"

"I'm nothing without them, they are my pillars, my reason for being and I'm not about to let them die," he said and Cell scowled deeply.

"How can you say that? You're strong! You don't need those pitiful attachments!" He yelled and Goku became serious.

"Only a monster like you would think that!"

"Then prove me otherwise, tell me why,"

"Every time earth has been attacked, and trust me, you're not the first, I had felt like giving up, I had felt like dying right on the spot and avoiding further torment. But _each _and _every _time the thought of my family brought me back on my feet, the thought of what would happen to them if I threw in the towel," Goku said and Cell wasn't finding this amusing anymore.

"Fine, just get stronger," Cell said and then set off, back to Hina, she had been right so the promised death would not happen, but nothing prevented him from 'spying' on the little _happy _family to prove he was right. He had done so with the other family and he had all the time in the world until Goku was ready to face him.

x.X.x

"Hina…what do you want to tell me," Jasmine said as she watched her crying daughter. "What did you do?" She pressed and Hina shook her head as she continued to cry.

"Mom, this is all my fault, everything is my fault," she said and Jasmine shook her head.

"How can you say that, this was in no one's control!" Jasmine yelled and Hina shook her head again.

"You remember that big bug I brought home?" She asked.

x.X.x

Cell was sitting on the roof of the house and listening, he already knew where this was going, the mother would probably kill her daughter now, it was only fitting.

"Yes, that disgusting thing!" Jasmine yelled.

"He was not disgusting!" Hina screamed and then started crying again. "He was a friend, to me at least," she said and then continued crying.

"It's okay honey, I'm sorry…you still haven't gotten over the fact that it never came back?" She asked and Cell wanted to laugh, what was Hina playing at? Friendship? Hah!

"No…he did…but…not to me…to everyone…" she said and Cell was patiently awaiting the fireworks, perhaps he would save the girl just to prove his point.

"What are you saying?" She asked and Cell could hear Hina get up and take a few steps backwards, towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"I'm never coming back after this sentence, you'll never forgive me," she said and Cell heard the chair of Jasmine clatter to the ground as she got up as well.

"Hina, calm down, I'll never hate you," she said and Jasmine shook her head.

"His name was Cell mom, the bugs name was Cell, he told me himself, he was smart, intelligent, he couldn't speak, he spelled it out to me!" She yelled and Cell heard her start to cry again. "His name was Cell mom! He's the… the…monster… that's killing everything and I helped him grow!" She yelled and then ran out of the house.

Cell watched as she ran towards the forest and into the darkness and her mother ran out of the house within a second. "Hina! Come back!" She yelled and Cell took this as an opportunity.

He dropped down from the roof and in front of the mother, Jasmine stepped back in shock. "She's right you know, I was that bug," he said and Jasmine's eyes widened. "So say it, you hate your child, you want to kill her," he said and her eyes widened even more.

"No… the only person I hate is you for making my daughter suffer like this, making her blame herself that you're a monster," she said and then pushed passed Cell and ran into the forest after Hina.

Cell turned around in confusion, how did any of this make sense? How could the mother forgive her daughter for helping speed up the downfall of humanity?

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Cell had watched the entire ordeal, Jasmine had found Hina and had comforted her, had eased her, spoken to her and eventually managed to get her to come home. Hina was a wreck though and Cell didn't understand.

Crying…hating…laughing and forgiving? How did all of those weaknesses make strength?

He sensed as Hina went to lie down in what he supposed to be her bed and he recalled when she had fallen asleep on his shell due to intoxication; it had been a humorous occasion to say the least. She had made him laugh.

With a start he realized the laughs hadn't been vindictive or because of the pain he caused, but because she had been funny. He had laughed because he wanted to, because she had been amusing.

Even while he had wanted to kill her… he had laughed.

"Really?" He asked himself. "Is that what it means?" He asked as it was slowly starting to make sense to him, he didn't understand why his mind couldn't grasp it, he hated lacking information and he was lacking this and he _wanted _to know.

With a growl he sped down towards the house and right through the front door, a second later both Hina and Jasmine ran towards the living room, when Hina saw him she pushed her mother in behind her.

He watched her as she remained silent, her mother was white in her face and not moving, but Hina seemed to be calculating every word she might say or every step she thought of taking, in short, she didn't want to provoke him.

He crossed his arms as he looked at the little family. "I'm commandeering this house," he said and Hina's eyes widened, while Jasmine's had been wide all along.

"Then we'll leave right away," Hina said after a few seconds as she took her mother by the shoulders and slowly started to make it towards the backdoor. Cell growled.

"No, both of you are staying, there's a reason for this," he said and Hina stopped and waited. "You spoke of emotion I haven't felt, You AND your mother will continue life as if I am not here, I will leave once I have gotten my answers about this," he said and Hina slowly nodded.

"Mom… let's go…sleep," she said with a gulp. "I'll sleep by you," she said and her mother nodded slowly, completely white in her face.

"Why? Why rest with her when you usually rest separately?" Cell asked and Hina grabbed a bottle of calming pills from the cabinet as she started to lead her mother towards her bedroom.

"Because you're here, we're scared and neither of us wants to be alone," she answered truthfully. "Goodnight," she said and then hurried down the hall, leaving Cell alone in the living room.

He looked at the couch and walked towards it, as he sat down he went into thought. Scared of being alone while he was here? What would it help if she was with her mother and vice versa? She wouldn't be any safer!

With a grunt he got up and stormed down the hall.

x.X.x

Hina had just fed her mother the pills in when the door knocked open and Cell stepped inside, her mother jumped up and looked at Cell, still white. "Sleep woman," he said and her mother didn't seem to listen.

"What is it?" Hina asked and Cell looked towards her.

"I have questions, come with me immediately," he said and Hina rose to her feet.

"Mom, I'll be right back, please sleep," she said and her mother could only nod as Cell led her daughter out of the room, a monster.

x.X.x

Cell and Hina reached the kitchen area a few seconds later and Hina immediately went to the kettle. "Why are you and your mother afraid to be alone when you know it will make no difference and you can't protect each other from me?" He asked and she turned towards him tiredly.

"Because it is human nature, we feel safer with someone by our side, even when that person is just as afraid as we are," she said as she took a cup out of the cupboard. "Just like I felt when you were with me in the forest, even if I _thought _I was the one protecting you, I still felt safer," she said and then turned away and Cell considered her answer.

He remembered when he had been in the forest, he had considered her an essential tool to his survival, but he had not thought of her as a pillar from fear. So he did the same things, but he didn't feel the same emotions. "Why… why do you feel that?" He asked and she didn't answer him or turn back to him. "Hina!" He snapped and she swung around.

"Sorry, dozing off," she said and his eyes widened.

"'Dozing off', in a situation like this? Where I can take your life at any second?" He asked, that was like falling asleep in battle!

"I took _pills_, I'm _tired_, you _dragged _me out of bed to answer _stupid _questions," she answered angrily and Cell narrowed his eyes as he held his hand out to her, a yellow ball forming in the palm of his hand.

"I give you one second to rephrase," he said and she scowled now.

"If you truly understood what we were all about, you would instead ask me why I'm biting your head off and what is wrong, but you don't, so go ahead," she said as she stood her ground, she knew it was no use running.

Cell growled as he lowered his hand. "Fine, why?" He asked, he didn't understand how he could be missing an entire chapter of knowledge, something that seemed to come so easy to them.

"Because," she said as she took a deep breath. "I had a rough day, I spilled my heart out to my mother with the expectation of her hating me forever, I am emotionally depleted and just want to rest to start a new day. Then you show up, _knock _down our door," she said pointing to the door and Cell casually walked to the door and put it back on its hinges. "AND drag me out of bed to answer these questions, I am not in the mood," she said and Cell crossed his arms.

"I don't care," he answered.

"You wouldn't, but others would, so ask your questions and let me go sleep," she said as she poured her coffee and walked towards the couch, going to sit down on it, the soft surface of it making her head spin with the desire of sleep.

Cell followed her as he stood in front of her. "Alright, if I were to understand and care about these emotions, how would it benefit me?" He asked and her mouth fell open, but when he glared at her she pretended to yawn.

"It wouldn't _benefit_ you, it would just… I don't know, why do you even care? If you don't like it, why are you trying to understand it?" She asked as she leaned back against couch, sleep was more seductive to her than a naked angel right now.

"I don't like to be without knowledge, so I insist on learning these tactics of your type," he said and was about to continue when he noticed her mouth was slightly parted and her eyes closed.

His eyes widened as he realized she had fallen asleep, he walked towards her and flicked her on her cheek and as he expected she jumped up.

"What, who, where?" She asked as she balled her fists and Cell started to laugh as she hazily came back to reality. When she saw Cell she groaned. "Let me sleep, _please_," she begged and Cell noticed her eyes were being dragged closed again by her tiredness.

"Fine, go rest, you're useless to me like this," he said and she nodded and then closed her eyes again before tipping over on the couch.

"Why would she sleep here when she had a more comfortable abode in her room?" He asked himself and then figured it was just because she was tired. "Foolish mortal," he said and then went to sit down next to where she passed out. He had no need to sleep, so he would just stay awake.

x.X.x

It was late morning, around 11 am, when he saw Hina stir; he looked at her and watched as she started to wake up with some difficulty. Throughout the night and early morning hours he had worked up a whole bunch of questions and had fought against the desire to wake her up, the only thing that had stopped him was the knowledge that she would be in no state to answer him.

To think he had gotten so bored with the waiting that he was asking mortals questions.

Hina opened her eyes and sat up, she turned towards the direction Cell was in and when she saw him sitting there and just staring at her she screamed and fell off the couch.

Cell looked at her oddly. "Why scream? You knew I was here," he said as he still sat down, watching her get to her feet and rubbing her back slowly.

"Ouch…" She muttered and then looked towards him. "I was in la-la land, there doesn't exist something like a 'Cell' in that happy place, I was abruptly yanked from that thoughts when I saw _you_," she muttered and then started to walk towards the kitchen.

Cell stood up and trailed after her. "La-la land? You never left the couch," he said and she gave a long sigh.

"Dreaming Cell, I was dreaming," she clarified and he crossed his arms.

"Dreams are pointless," he said shortly and she didn't reply at first as she started to make coffee, both for herself and her mother, she hoped her mother was alright.

"You never dreamt anything nice?" She asked after putting the coffee and sugar in the mugs.

"I never dream," he said and she looked at him shocked as she retrieved the milk from the fridge.

"That's a bit hard to believe," she said and Cell's eyes narrowed.

"Are you calling me a liar?" He asked and her eyes widened now as she took a step backwards.

"No," she said, but his eyes didn't soften. "It was just a saying, I didn't mean anything with it," she said and finally his eyes lighted up a bit.

"Oh," he replied and then crossed his arms. "Get your mother out of bed, she is resting half the day away," he said and Hina looked at him intently now.

"Let her go," she said and Cell uncrossed his arms.

"Why?"

"I can answer everything you need to know, don't put her through this," she said and Cell smirked as his eyes glinted.

"I highly doubt you can answer everything, her age alone indicates her knowledge is beyond yours, and I believe I made it clear my intention is not to harm either of you, for now at least," he said and Hina sighed as she poured the milk into the cups and then went to put the milk back in the fridge.

"Doesn't matter what you say, you're a monster," she said and immediately Cell's eyes darkened. "Don't even try to stare me down on this one and you cannot say otherwise, you killed thousands of people, laughing while you did it, you killed children and felt no remorse. Your heart is so black you don't even deserve to have it," she said in one breathe and she felt relieved that she finally said it.

Cell stared at her as the words left her mouth, he might be a monster, but she had absolutely no right to say it to him. His eyes narrowed. "You should learn your place, you forget I own this planet, your life is in my hands," he said and Hina just shrugged her shoulders as she finished with the coffee.

She picked it up and started walking towards her mother's room. "Don't walk away from me," he hissed out and she stopped and then looked back at him.

"I'm going to go wake my mother up, you asked me to, remember?" She asked and Cell grunted, but gave a nod as he walked passed her and towards the living room again. He knew he could just kill her and the mother, go and find another family to bother; but he knew the other family would be horrified of him and struggle to construct so much as a sentence.

Hina had a peculiar case since she had known him before his change, so her sentences didn't stick in her throat; she was the only person he could speak to that didn't run at his presence.

x.X.x

"Mom…" Hina whispered softly as she shook her mom. "Mom… you have to get out of here," she continued to whisper as her mother slowly started to awaken.

x.X.x

Cell heard Hina's plea to her mother and got to his feet. "Didn't I tell her?" He asked himself as he made his way towards the room. Why would she blatantly go against his wishes if she knew what the possible consequences could be?

x.X.x

"Honey… phone me, I trust you and I love you and I know you'll be okay," Jasmine said as she had one leg out of the window already. "Escape as soon as you can," Jasmine continued and just as she was about to step out completely the door opened and Cell stepped inside.

"Well, what do we have here?" Cell asked as he crossed his arms, looking at Jasmine half out of the window and Hina standing there. "Would you be so kind as to come back inside?" Cell asked with a smile, but his eyes sparked dangerously.

Jasmine was about to obey when Hina pushed her back and completely out of the window. "Run!" Hina yelled and then shut the window; she snapped towards Cell and saw his angry expression.

"It will take me no more than 5 seconds to get her back here, but that is not the problem, you doing that is the problem," he said as he took a step towards her. He could find the mom easily enough since he had locked onto her life-force, so he didn't need to worry about her running away.

"I said to let her go, you didn't want to, so I made a plan," Hina said as she stepped back against the wall.

"Perhaps you have mistaken me for someone you can take lightly," he said as he held his hand out towards her, a yellow ball forming in the center.

"Kill me if you want, I've died before," she said, she didn't want to die, but she wasn't going to grovel.

"Kill you?" Cell asked with a laugh. "Not my plan at all," he said and then released the blast, letting it hit her stomach and lower arms.

Hina gasped as she felt her flesh burn and her arms sting. She fell to the ground and started coughing, a smoke like substance coming from her mouth each time she coughed.

Cell watched her as she was on all fours, coughing up smoke, her wrists and part of her hands were burned raw, blood, blisters and blackened flesh covered it. Her stomach looked the same from what he could see, except some of her top was charred into her flesh. "You can consider that strike-one, try not to reach three," he said and then turned to leave.

"My mother… leave her alone," Hina coughed out as she stood up, she looked at herself and went white.

Cell looked at her. "The second you can no longer answer my questions I will go retrieve her, until then your wish has been granted," he said and then left.

Hina sighed softly as she started to walk towards the bathroom, her arms were shaking with the nerve damage and the pain was taking over. How could that yellow thing have hurt her so much and so quickly? It was insane, his power was insane.

**x.X.x**

**Reviews will be highly appreciated ^^ Anyway, the story contains a lot of elements and I'm trying to stay true to Cell's nature, thus he'll give little room for things such as her pleas and he will find ways to make her suffer if she chose to disobey him and likewise for everything else he encountered. The only added part I put to him is the fact that he wants to understand humanity.**

**So please don't flame me for any of this. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, next chapter is up, please read and enjoy. **

**A VERY gracious thanks to Yomoko for reviewing my story. I did my little happy dance and all that, first review. YAY. Err, right, I like reviews? Pretty much every writer does. **

**And no, it doesn't make me a better writer, it makes me a happier writer ^^**

**Thanks again :D *going to go do happy dance again***

**This update is officially dedicated to my first reviewer ^^**

**x.X.x**

(30 Minutes Later)

Cell watched as Hina came into the kitchen, her arms were bandaged and she was wearing other clothes. She looked towards him for a split second before walking towards one of the cupboards and pulling a bottle of pills from it.

She then walked towards the kitchen sink and poured herself a glass of water, Cell watched as she cracked open the bottle and took out five pills before swallowing them down with the water. "Isn't it dangerous for a human to consume so many pills?" He asked her and she looked towards him.

"Yes," she said.

"Then why did you, what pills are those?" He questioned.

"Pain pills you bastard," she remarked angrily and Cell scowled.

"Watch your tone with me," he hissed.

"What, is this going to be strike-two?"

"Keep this up and it will be," he threatened as he got to his feet, Hina looked at him and then poured another five pills into her hand.

"Just let me knock these down first," she said sarcastically as she brought the pills to her mouth, but within a second Cell was in front of her and gripped her wrist tightly. Her eyes shut tight immediately as she gritted her teeth. "Let go!" She yelled in pain, he was pressing right on her burn wounds.

"Drop the pills," he instructed as he looked at her hand, the pills were clutched in her fist.

"Let me go first!" She yelled as she tried to pull loose, but it didn't help, he was stationary and nothing she did was going to get her hand loose.

"I asked first," he said and she shook her head.

"No you didn't, let me go," she said and Cell recalled she did actually ask first, he let go of her wrist and she fell backwards against the kitchen counter. He watched as she brought the pills to her mouth.

"Put that in your mouth and I'll knock your teeth out," he said and she immediately lowered her hand.

"Why can't I? It won't kill me and I'm in pain," she said and Cell's eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to her. "Don't grab me again," she said as she stepped away from him, but it was impossible to go further back as the counter was there.

"Then don't test my patience again, I'm not here to play games with you," he said and Hina gave a sigh as she put the pills back in the container and then put the container down on the table.

"Fine," she said as she crossed her arms, making sure her wrists didn't touch any part of her body as she did so; they were throbbing with pain every second.

"Go about your day," he said and her eyes widened.

"With _you _here, that won't be easy," she said and Cell grunted angrily.

"Do as I say," he said and she nodded slowly.

"Okay, but didn't you have questions for me?" She asked and he scowled.

"I'll ask them as they arise, now do as I say," he instructed and she shrugged her shoulders as she sighed.

"Alright," she answered and then stepped past him and decided to go about her day. What she usually did when she woke up was shower, get dressed, go ride Blossom, work in the garden, train until dinner time, eat, shower again, read and then go sleep. She didn't feel comfortable doing _any _of those with Cell around, but she didn't have a choice.

She'd have to cut out training, Blossom and working in the garden since her arms were damaged and she was starting to feel doped already from the pills. So she'd just read until she got bored or tired.

Hina walked towards the bookshelf and got out a book, it was unnerving to know Cell was watching her every move, but she couldn't do anything about it.

She went to sit down on the couch and started to read, her lack of concentration was making it hard, but just staring at the pages were better than staring at him.

Cell watched as she stared at the book, he wasn't sure whether she was reading or not, but he would watch. Being left without a crucial piece of information didn't befit him, damn Dr. Gero for thinking it wasn't necessary, he created an intelligent being, who craves power and knowledge and then cuts out a chunk of knowledge? What was he thinking?

x.X.x

(One hour later)

Hina yawned as she put down the book, she had barely managed to get passed 15 pages, but now her eyes were blurring over every time she attempted to read, the pills were definitely kicking in.

"And now? You can't possibly be tired already, you woke up less than two hours ago," Cell commented as he watched her put the book down, she looked towards him.

"The pills are kicking in, they make me tired," she clarified and he scoffed.

"Weakling," he muttered under his breath, she scowled at him, but said nothing as she got to her feet and walked into the kitchen and then down the hall towards her room.

Cell watched her go and scoffed again, humans were truly weak, if it wasn't for his desire to know he would've been out of here a long time ago; but it was eating at him, he needed to know more, he needed to know what he was missing. It felt like he was a bunch of cables that were unable to make a connection and it annoyed him endlessly, it annoyed him more than Hina did so he could live with her, he could avoid killing her until he got his answer.

x.X.x

Hina reached her room and with a yawn she collapsed down on the bed, when she turned around on the sheets she gasped when she saw Cell standing by her door with his arms folded, just _watching _her. "What are you doing here?" She asked mortified.

"In case you forgot, until further notice, I _live _here," he said with a smirk and she grumbled.

"That's not what I meant,"

"I know," he cackled and she glowered at him and then closed her eyes.

"Suit yourself," she said and even though she didn't like his presence one bit, the pills overrode her desire to stay awake and soon she was drifting off to sleep, a place where there was no Cell.

Cell watched as her breathing regulated and she drifted off to sleep, he didn't understand how she could sleep with him in her room, his intention was to unnerve her and attempt to awaken her from her stupor, but instead she fell into it anyway. "How bizarre," he muttered as he continued to watch her, maybe she was ill?

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

The sun was busy setting and Cell saw as she began to stir. "It's about time you woke up, the entire day went to hell," he said and she grunted as she turned in his direction.

She couldn't even focus on being angry at him, her arms were throbbing like a thousand needles had been pressed into them, a thousand needles dipped in fire that is. "Doesn't it bother you?" She asked with a cough, the pain pills had worked out and it was hitting her like a brick now, she couldn't even consider going back to sleep with this type of pain.

"Doesn't _what_ bother me?" He asked, unsure of what she was referring to.

"That you hurt me," she said and he started to laugh.

"You're kidding right?" He asked as he tried to stifle his laughter.

"No," she answered softly.

"Why would that bother me?" He asked with a laugh and she sighed as she sat upright.

"Come here," she said and Cell raised an eyebrow, but stepped closer until he was right in front of her.

She lifted her bandaged arms up and Cell could see the blood had seeped through it, her arms were also shaking. "This doesn't bother you?" She asked as she looked up into his pink eyes, such a funny eye color for someone like him to have.

Cell reached out and took hold of her left wrist; he used his sharp black index finger nail to cut open the bandages on her wrist and it fell to the ground. He looked at her arm and noted it looked a bit like broiled nachos. "No, should it?" He asked as he examined her arm, he was sure it hurt, but why would he need to feel bad about it, it had been his intention to harm her.

"I guess it's beyond you to understand that harming another is wrong," she said and he laughed now as he still held onto her arm, she didn't like that much, her eyes were trained on his long black nails and she imagined it would hurt quite a bit if he decided to dig that into her flesh.

"Oh, I know fairly well it's wrong, I just don't care," he clarified as he continued to howl with laughter. Hina scowled at him as she gently tried to tug her arm free from his grip, but he immediately held onto it tighter. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes for a second, but when he laughed again she opened her eyes and looked into his.

His eyes were glinting with glee. "It hurts, doesn't it?" He asked and her mouth parted slightly, was he such a monster? Could he really be so cruel as to enjoy things like this?

"If I say yes, will you let me go?" She asked softly, she didn't want to provoke him, the pain was bad enough. All she wanted to do was get to the kitchen and get to the pain pills; she wouldn't care if she slept half the week away, she just wanted the pain to end.

Cell smirked at her question. "Well… if you put it that way…" his smile widened. "Give me your other arm," he instructed as he outstretched his other hand towards her, awaiting her wrist.

She looked at his hand and shook her head. "No," she said after a few seconds, she could see on his face he was planning something and his plans weren't pleasant.

"I won't hurt you," he said and she looked at his face, she couldn't trust a word he said.

"You're lying," she accused and his smile fell away and was replaced by a scowl, she shrank back against the covers at his look, luckily his grip on her left wrist hadn't tightened.

"I don't lie, accuse me again and you'll have earned that second strike I was talking about," he said and she gulped down a knot that appeared in her throat, she didn't like this one bit, but what choice did she have?

She slowly lifted her arm up and lowered her wrist down onto his palm, his skin was warm and she found it curious, she didn't think a monster like him would be warm-blooded.

"Hold still and don't pull away," he said and she just nodded, a second later a green glow came from his palms and enveloped her wrists, a second after that her wrists started to feel warm.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she was tempted to pull away, but wary of his advice not to. The warm feeling soon turned cold and then a kind of fuzzy-warm-cold feeling and her eyes widened when she saw the blisters pull back into her flesh and her damaged flesh started to turn pink and then back to normal.

It took her about ten seconds after that to realize she wasn't seeing things, he was healing her, the pain was leaving her arms and was instead being replaced by a soothing feeling.

A few seconds later Cell let go of her wrists and she immediately brought it to her face and examined them in awe. "Get off the bed," he instructed, there was still her stomach left and he had the feeling if she had the wounds for any longer she would continue to moan about it and sleep her days away, her sleeping was not productive to his research attempts.

Hina nodded as she dropped her hands to her sides and got off the bed, Cell looked at her stomach and a second later swiped his hand across her shirt, yanking it from her body. The scream that ensued was deafening.

"What the hell are you doing!" Hina screamed as she threw her arms around her naked chest and glared at him.

"Oh please, you forgot I was in your company for a year prior to my transformation," he said and she went red in her face as she looked away from him and towards the ground.

"Doesn't matter, I didn't know you were…this," she said and he bended down in front of her as he placed his hand on her bare stomach, the damage was surprisingly less on her stomach, the place where the blast had actually hit her.

"I'm not interested in your flesh girl," he said as he started to heal her and she seemed confused for a second, but then grinned.

"Oh, you swing the other way?" She asked and Cell looked up at her and noticed her sheepish expression.

"Meaning?" He asked as he continued to heal her.

"I mean… I didn't suspect it, you're manly and all that," she rambled and Cell's eyes suddenly widened.

"No you daft girl!" He yelled as he grunted angrily. "I just have no desire," he said and she seemed confused all over again.

"Oh, right, so you can't reproduce, that's why," she said and Cell raised an eyebrow at her.

"I can reproduce," he answered shortly and she suddenly looked down and immediately went crimson as she looked up again.

"You mean to tell me…" She started and Cell saw what she was getting at.

"Yes," he answered. "Now stop talking, you're embarrassing yourself," he said as he returned his attention to her stomach, even though the damage was less, it seemed to have damaged some of her eternal organs, delaying the healing progress a bit.

Hina speculated on that, but immediately she was greeted with another question. "Why then? You're male, you should…" Cell stood up as he was done healing her and stared into her emerald eyes angrily.

"I _told _you, I have no desire, why must you make me repeat myself?" He asked annoyed and she was quiet for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders, her arms still firmly across her chest. "Now get on with your day, I didn't come here to watch you sleep," he snapped as he walked out of the room.

Hina watched him go and the second he was out of the room she ran to her closet to get another shirt. Cell was a monster, it was obvious now, he had the power to save lives and heal people, but he chose to destroy and kill.

**x.X.x**

**Well, I thought bringing that subject in was humorous, if you thought otherwise, sorry about that. Please review. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Well, next chapter is up. Please read and review.**

**Dreamrevolution: Thanks for the review and words of encouragement. I don't have any intention to let this story go to waste and luckily I have the next 20 or so chapters already written, so I'll continue to update unless I mysteriously die **

**Which I really hope doesn't happen…**

**Random note: I love pickles**

**x.X.x**

(One hour later)

Cell watched as Hina dismounted her horse and led her back to the stable, she was graceful on the animal, more so than she was on her own two feet. When she was done stabling Blossom she headed back towards the house, Cell followed behind her.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked as she walked into the kitchen.

She turned towards him. "I'm starving, I need to eat," she said as she turned towards the fridge and opened it, pawing through the contents gingerly as she searched for what she wanted.

A few seconds later she pulled out a sealed jar of pickles and walked towards the counter, she placed it down on the counter and got a knife from the drawer, cutting away the plastic covering the lid.

"_That _is your supper?" He questioned and she gave a nod as she twisted the bottle, but to no avail. Cell watched for half a minute as she wrestled with the pickle jar and he felt laughter build up in his throat. "Need some help?" He asked as he attempted to stifle his laughter.

She looked at him and then at the jar and then back at him. "No, I'm fine," she said as she continued to try, after another 30 seconds she sighed in resignation and held it out towards him.

Cell took the jar and twisted it open before handing it back to her, she nodded her thanks and immediately dug her fingers into the slightly green liquid, pulling out a pickle and propping it into her mouth.

"How can that full you, is it even _nice_?" He asked and she held up her hand for him to wait as she chewed it down.

"Pickles are awesome, best thing ever," she said once she swallowed and then pulled out another one and held it out towards Cell.

"No thanks," he said with a laugh, but she still held it out to him.

"Just try it, you eat, I know that from personal experience," she said and Cell crossed his arms as he turned to her fully.

"I only ate to enhance my growth spurt, I don't need food," he said and she didn't seem to be demotivated from her desire to make him eat it.

"Yes, but you can still eat, and I'm sure you can distinguish taste," she said and Cell grunted as he took the pickle from hand and took a bite of it, she wasn't going to give up it seemed.

He chewed on it for a few seconds before swallowing. "Yes, it's nice, happy now?" He asked as he put the leftover pickle down on the counter.

"Don't you get hungry at all?" She asked as she took the pickle and started to munch it down; a wasted pickle did not exist in her house.

"I used to be, but my creator made it so that I would not be in this form," he said and she was immediately confused by his sentence.

"Creator?" She asked and Cell realized she didn't have a clue of his origins.

"I'm an android," he said and her eyes widened. "Organic android," he added, he was sure that question would come otherwise.

"Oh… so… you were created to destroy everything," she said and Cell gave a nod. "Ever thought of rebelling?" She asked with a hopeful laugh and he smirked.

"My mind is my own, I'm not being controlled, I just have a knack for being on the 'wrong' side of the law, as you mortals like to call it, this is my choice, not my creators," he said and then stepped back to observe her. "No more questions, I'm not here to answer yours," he said and she stared at him for about five seconds before giving a quick nod and then she continued to eat.

Cell watched her chow down on the pickles like they were the last source of food on the planet, it reminded him of when he was in the forest with her, he had eaten like that to make sure he morphed sooner.

x.X.x

(Few minutes later)

Hina was finished with the pickle jar and was now sitting in front of the television, flipping through the channels in a lazy fashion. "Why are you so demotivated?" he questioned and she looked at him.

"I'm bored," she answered honestly, she often got streaks were she was just _bored_.

"There's plenty to do," he answered.

"Like what?"

Cell looked around the house. "For one, you can clean this place," he said with a laugh and she grumbled.

"I was referring to something interesting," she mumbled and Cell laughed again.

"I know," he answered, she wanted to bite back, but decided it would be wiser to keep her mouth shut. He wasn't her friend and even if he appeared relatively lax at times, he was not.

"How about…climb on the roof, watch the stars," he said and she scoffed at his reply.

"They're just little dots Cell, I've seen them since I could open my eyes," she answered and Cell snickered.

"They're actually giant balls of fire, most are bigger than this mud-ball," he commented and she looked at him.

"So I've read," she replied and then looked back towards the television lazily, flipping through the channels once more.

"There really is plenty to do around here," he said again and she sighed as she turned off the television and looked at him.

"Humor me then," she said and Cell looked at her and smirked.

"It's going to rain soon, it's actually going to be quite a storm," he said and she looked at him oddly, and then stared outside, it was almost completely dark now, but she could see the sky was pulled open, barely a cloud in sight.

"Right, I can see that," she said sarcastically, was he pulling her leg with all this 'there's plenty to do' business?

"Remember girl," he said with a bit of venom, though he was still smiling. "I do not lie," he finished and she continued to look at him.

So far he hadn't told a lie, but that didn't mean he _didn't _lie, besides, saying you didn't lie was the biggest lie of all. "We'll see then," she said as she got up from the couch and walked to the backdoor.

She opened it and stepped outside, she could feel a slight breeze, it was an icy one, but it was no indication of a storm, but just to be safe she would take Blossom into the barn.

Cell watched her go and smirked; despite her disbelief she was still cautious. There was going to be a storm, he could feel it, and she would obviously know when it hit.

x.X.x

(One Week Later)

"Yes, mom, I'm fine," Hina said over the phone, Cell was examining her as he stood in the corner of the room. "No mom, yes mom, no mom, I'm sure mom, yes mom, he's still here mom, okay, love you mom, goodbye," Hina said and when the phone was down on the hook she gave a sigh of relief.

"I would assume you'd be happy to hear your mother's voice," he said and she looked towards Cell.

"Well, considering who my company is, I would as well," she said and Cell's eyes immediately darkened at her insult. "Don't give me that look, we both know I don't want you here," she said and then walked off towards her room.

Cell grunted as he watched her go, as far as he had gathered mortals were usually extremely considerate with their words, so why was she constantly bashing him verbally?

x.X.x

(Four Weeks Later)

"Strike two," Cell hissed out as he grabbed her by her throat and dragged her up by the wall she was cowering against. "I'll give you the choice of deciding _where_," he hissed and she grunted as she stared into his cherry-blossom eyes.

"My eyes," she said and she saw Cell's confusion at the decision. "So that I don't need to look at your fucking smug face all the time you bastard," she spat out in clarification and Cell's eyes narrowed.

"Very well!" He yelled as he brought his free hand up to her face and she was immediately panicked as she tried to pull away, but it was impossible to win against Cell's grip.

"No, I was joking you sadistic freak!" She screamed as she tried to escape his hand, but he quickly gripped her by her forehead.

"I wasn't when I asked you to pick, _you _decided to be sarcastic," he bit out and immediately sent his energy through her nerves, severing those connected to her eyes; the damage was irreversible unless he fixed it. She would be blind forever, because he was not planning on fixing it.

"Welcome to darkness," he said to her as he watched her previously emerald eyes pale to a teal color.

"Oh god," Hina said as she frantically looked around, but she couldn't see anything but darkness, absolutely nothing! "What have you done!" She screamed at Cell, or the place where she had last seen him.

"Don't be so dramatic, you asked for it," he said with a laugh and then walked away, let her struggle and feel pain, he didn't care.

x.X.x

(Few days later)

Hina was sitting in her room and staring at the place she knew the ground to be, what had made her be so arrogant as to insult Cell like that? How could she even have joked about her sight?

She couldn't do anything now, she couldn't ride Blossom, she couldn't work in the garden, she couldn't read, she couldn't watch television properly, hell; she couldn't even find the soap in the shower!

She felt tears stinging at her eyes and allowed them to escape, what had she done to herself? If it wasn't for her it would only have been an arm or her stomach again, but she chose her eyes! "Idiot! You're an IDIOT Hina!" She screamed to herself as she shook her head.

Cell watched her as she cursed herself and cried, she was completely unaware of his presence and at the moment he preferred it that way. Since he had taken her eyes from her she had grown quiet and depressed and for good reason. Her eyesight used to be a big part of her life.

She had actually grown fearful of him since he took it, as if she was unsure of what he was going to do each second he was close to her; but the fear wouldn't last long, she was far too arrogant for that.

He would see how she survived without the thing she depended on most, she had asked for it after all.

x.X.x

(Three weeks later)

Hina was sitting in the living room, her legs crossed as she stared ahead at nothingness, she could hear Cell's faint breathing to her right. Her hearing was increasing now, but she didn't care, she couldn't see with her ears.

Cell, on the other hand, was happy she couldn't see him right now because he was conflicted. She hadn't gotten better, she had gotten worse, she was answering his questions like a puppet and otherwise she did nothing but listen to the radio, listen to the TV and feed her horse and herself. Whatever fire used to be in her he had killed when he took her eyes.

"You regret ever muttering that sentence, don't you?" he asked her and she looked in the direction of his voice.

"Yes," she answered truthfully.

"You've been extremely quiet since then, is it only because of your eyesight being gone, or are there other factors involved?" He asked and she grimaced at his question.

"Cell, you've taken everything from me, I have nothing left to lose except my life," she said and Cell was taken aback by her answer.

"Surely your vision didn't mean that much to you?" he asked and she gave a tired sigh.

"Let's just say I didn't realize exactly how much it meant to me until it was gone," she said and Cell was fighting against the desire to heal her and eventually the fight won. He wouldn't heal her, she had asked for this with her attitude.

x.X.x

(3 Months Later)

"Just kill me," Hina muttered and Cell looked at her astonished, her request catching him off-guard.

"Excuse me?" He asked for verification and she sighed.

"Kill me, you've gotten every question you could possibly ask out of me, so kill me and get it over with," she said and Cell stared at her peculiarly.

"I have no desire to kill you just yet as I still have plenty of questions left, why the sudden death wish?" He asked and she sighed.

"Ask your questions," she said instead of answering his question.

"That was one of them," he responded coolly.

"I can't see Cell, and beyond that I'm stuck in this house with you," she said and Cell grunted at her answer, must she hate him so?

"The only times I've _hurt _you is when you deliberately disobeyed me and insulted me, otherwise I believe I have been quite a decent houseguest," he said and she snorted.

"You're holding me captive, you blinded me, I'm too scared to ask my mother to come back and you're constantly observing me like I'm a specimen in a bottle, so don't you dare try and tell me you're being civilized about this matter," she spat out angrily.

"Fine," Cell said as he walked towards her, when he was in front of her he grabbed her by her forehead and slammed her down against the couch. "If you want to keep holding this above my head like an axe, I'll fix it," he said and immediately Hina's skin was white.

'Does he mean…no…he wouldn't be that nice, he sees what it does to me,' she thought and suddenly a bright green light penetrated her vision, the first color, besides black, that she had seen for so long.

A few seconds later Cell let go of her forehead and stood up completely, he crossed his arms as he looked at her. "Open your damned eyes and greet the light," he hissed out and she did as he asked.

When she did she was immediately greeted by shapes she had started to forgot, her eyes landed on Cell a second later and she felt her eyes water over. "Why… why would you do that?" She asked and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? Are you angry at me now because I did this?" He asked in disbelieve.

"No!" She yelled immediately. "I just don't understand why, you saw what it did to me, why would you want to fix it?" She asked and Cell crossed his arms as he stared down at her.

"Because depression doesn't befit you," he answered and then walked away, he had no desire to answer her trivial questions, at least the depression would pass now.

Hina watched him go and felt such relief that she could see that she wanted to cry, being in darkness for so long had made her feel isolated and completely alone… and yet he… a monster… had reversed his damage.

**x.X.x**

**Well, a bit of drama, cruelty and bonding in this chapter, hope you enjoyed it. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, thanks for the reviews ^^ **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**And once again, thanks for the review Yomoko ^^ Whoever reads this story will know a chapter was dedicated to you for your gracious support of my story ^^ Only one person per story and you're it :P**

**Dreamevolution: Thanks for the review and don't worry, won't leave you in the dark, the next view chapters are finished already; no need to stress ^^**

**Oh yeah, I kind of fly through some of the months because if I had to explain EVERY single day it would've taken me longer to write than it took them to make the series.**

**HOWEVER, I don't think I left out anything, if you feel otherwise let me know and I'll revise the chapters if necessary.**

**And the last part of this chapter is a bit of a cliché, but heh, had to happen sometime. So don't flame me for it. I believe ONLY this one chapter contains a cliché, if not, feel free to point the others out and burn me at the stake.**

**x.X.x**

(5 Months Later)

Cell watched as Hina walked around the kitchen, making herself a sandwich and he was conflicted with himself once again, actually, he had constantly been conflicted the past few weeks. He no longer desired to kill her, but there were little to no questions left to ask and when he left he said he would kill her.

He had known her since the day he had landed here on earth, he had even killed her once, yet he didn't desire to do it twice. Of all the mortals he had come across she was unique to him.

"Something wrong?" Hina asked as she took the butter out of the fridge.

"No, just go about your business," he answered and she gave a nod as she did so. She didn't fear him, well, she did fear him, but only when he got angry or showed malice, otherwise it was like they were _friend_s. A term she had used before to describe him.

Hina watched as Cell scowled and she wondered what was up with him. It had been ages since he invaded her home and she had grown so accustomed to him that she was capable of reading his moods easily. It was obvious he was upset, why she didn't know though and it wasn't her position to pry, even if she was relatively sure he wouldn't get aggressive if she did.

She smiled, she had tried to get her mother to come back and had even gone to visit her, but her mother refused to come back while Cell was in the house. She supposed that was reasonable, why she was even comfortable around him was a mystery, he could snap her like a twig.

Cell saw as she smiled and scowled. "Why are you smiling?" He questioned and she looked up from her sandwich.

"I was just thinking of something ironic," she said and his scowl deepened.

"As in?" He pried.

"How I feel comfortable around you even though you can snap me like a twig," she said and then looked away again, leaving Cell completely baffled.

'She's comfortable around me?' He asked himself in disbelief.

x.X.x

(3 Months Later)

Hina was busy showering when the bathroom door shot open; she let out a scream and grabbed the towel hanging over the shower door, covering herself immediately. She knew it was Cell, but she still couldn't believe he would just barge in here. "Privacy!" She squealed and Cell laughed at her.

"I just thought of a topic that does confuse me, but I've never bothered to ask," he said and she raised an eyebrow as she stepped out of the shower after turning off the water. She held the towel tightly around her body.

"Okay," she said, not exactly comfortable with the setting of the questions.

"Intercourse," he sad and she started to cough.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"You heard me," he said and she gave a nod. "It baffles me on various levels," he admitted and she stared at him in disbelief.

"You mean… you have no idea how to…do it?" She asked and he started to laugh.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I do, it's not the act that confuses me, it's the mechanics," he said and she was confused.

"I don't understand," she admitted.

"Drop the towel," he said and her eyes widened, she held onto it tighter out of reflex.

"No," she said immediately.

"Why not?" He quizzed; a smile on his face.

"I don't know you!" She yelled softly.

"Exactly, that is my point, you've known me over two years," he said and she still didn't understand. "But if I was human and had intended a romantic relationship with you from the start, you would've dropped the towel six months into knowing me. The only difference now is that we're not sexually intimate," he said and she raised her eyebrows.

"This is an awkward conversation," she said awkwardly and Cell laughed at her.

"The first man you were with, how long did it take?" He asked and her eyes widened instantaneously.

"Oh hell no, we're not going into my personal life, scoot," she said as she pointed towards the door. Cell looked at her amused as he crossed his arms after closing the bathroom door.

"Oh, but we are, now answer," he said and she turned red in her face as she shook her head. "Answer me," he insisted and she shook her head once more, going even redder.

"No, ask another question," she said and Cell uncrossed his arms and smirked as he stared at her crimson figure.

"Uncomfortable?"

"Extremely,"

"Good, now answer, I'm not changing the subject, this is my question and that is why I'm here," he said and she went quiet, but after a few seconds she gave a long sigh and lowered her head.

"Never,"

"Still defying me?" He asked with a laugh.

"No, the answer is never, never before," she said and Cell's eyes widened slightly as he understood what she meant.

"Oh, well, perhaps your mother would be best suited for this question then," he said and Hina snapped her head up.

"Leave her alone," Hina said.

"Well, I said when I found a question you couldn't answer I'd go to retrieve her, now didn't I?" He asked and Hina tightened the towel around herself.

"Well, I can't answer about myself, but I can answer it in general," she said and Cell was confused.

"How can you do that?"

"People talk, stuff like this is on TV all the time," she said and almost laughed at Cell's slightly disturbed face.

"Alright, then answer my question from their point of view," he said and she gave a nod as she went into thought.

"Well, some women take less than one hour, some less than a day, some 2 weeks, some less or more, it honestly varies on the type of woman," she answered and Cell gave a nod.

"And after the act they would feel comfortable being naked around the person, despite the short, or long, period they have known each other?" He asked and Hina gave a nod. "So it doesn't depend on emotional attachment?" He quizzed and she sighed.

"Well, some people think that comes _before _the emotional attachment, other believe, correctly, that it comes afterwards," she said and Cell gave a nod as he noticed she was going redder and redder in her face.

"Why are you so uncomfortable with the subject, it is hardcoded into your genes, isn't it?" He asked and she gave an uncomfortable nod as she shifted on her feet.

"Yeah, sure, but doesn't mean I have to like talking about it," she answered and he laughed.

"So modest," he mocked and she scowled.

"Hey, you haven't exactly done it either!" She snapped back and he laughed harder.

"Girl, I have the memories and cells of over a dozen people in me, I am more experienced than you by default," he said and she immediately turned crimson.

"People…in you?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, my name is taken from the fact that I was created out of the cells of others," he responded and she gave a quick uncomfortable nod.

"Okay… can I leave the bathroom now, I'm getting cold," she said and Cell sighed as he nodded, stepping aside and opening the door.

She stepped into her room, followed by Cell. "So… why haven't you? You turned 21 sometime in the last few weeks didn't you?" He asked and she gave a nod.

"I don't know why not," she said and Cell smirked.

"Aah, so it's not that you have no interest, you do, but you have not…found the correct…attachment?" He questioned mockingly and she turned red in her face once again.

"Well, it's kind of hard bringing a guy home when I have _you _in my house," she said and Cell smirked.

"Nothing is stopping you from going to _his _house," he clarified and she said nothing as she turned away from him, her wet hair causing water to drip onto the carpet. "Alright, I'll go," he said after a few seconds and then left.

When he was gone Hina stared over her shoulder at the door, maybe he had a point, maybe she needed to _go _out there and find herself someone to love. How hard could it possibly be to care for a person and she was _physically _and mentally lonely.

x.X.x

(Two hours later)

Cell watched as Hina stepped into the lounge, her hair was done, she was wearing makeup and her clothes were relatively fancy compared to what she usually wore. "And now?" He questioned and she gave him a quick smile as she walked towards a tin next to the microwave and fished a few bucks out of it.

"I've following your advice," she said after she pocketed the money.

"Which is?" He questioned.

"To go _out _and meet someone," she said as she walked towards the door, she saw Cell's completely confused face and laughed. "You said 'nothing is stopping you from going to _his _house'," she said in an imitation of his voice and his eyes immediately darkened.

"You're planning to _bed _someone tonight?" He asked and her eyes widened.

"No!" She yelled immediately. "Just go out and meet people, sheesh, must you always think so little of me," she said and then opened the front door. "Be back later," she said and then she was gone.

Cell watched her go and felt annoyed, but he pushed the feeling aside and instead tried to relax.

x.X.x

Hina reached the bar half an hour later, since she had to walk and when she entered it she promptly showed her ID and then strolled towards the bar.

It took no more than five minutes before a man came up to her to speak to her and a handsome one as well.

x.X.x

(Two hours later)

(**Jaws music: here comes the cliché! – Don't say I didn't warn you)**

"Really? You work for HQ Mechanics?" Hina asked as she sipped at what she thought to be a cocktail; she wasn't exactly sure as she wasn't an expert on drinks.

"Yeah, so, you said you had to get home soon?" The man, named George, asked and Hina nodded as she sipped from the straw.

"Mm, yeah, should get walking soon before it gets too late," she responded and he let out a hearty laugh.

"Let me drive you then, walking isn't safe," he offered kindly and Hina smiled brightly at his offer, she was honestly feeling kind of drunk so a lift would be highly appreciated, she wasn't used to drinking.

"That'd be great," she said as she started to collect her things, trying not to stumble too much on her feet; who knew people were so nice?

x.X.x

They weren't, not at all! "Let me go!" She yelled at George as he tried to pin her against the car seat. She fumbled around weakly as she attempted to locate something to hit him with and a few seconds later her hand closed around the iron tip of a crowbar.

She yanked it from behind the seat and hit George over the head with it, he grunted and fell back long enough for her to kick open the car door and bolt with her belongings in her arms, but not long enough because a second later he was out of the car and running after her.

As she tried to get further away she tripped and fell and immediately she grappled inside her handbag for her phone, when she located it she speed-dialed her home phone, but it was only ringing, she immediately clicked the 'hash' button to switch over to voicemail.

x.X.x

Cell heard the phone ring, but ignored it, and a second later it switched over to voicemail. "Help me!" He heard the voice of Hina beam over the landline; he sat upright and looked at the phone. Soon he could hear a man screaming at her about not calling the cops and her screams echoed through the phone, after that he could hear the phone being smashed and then the line went dead.

"Idiot," Cell said to himself. "I thought she trained herself," he said as he got to his feet and left through the backdoor, he would go to see what ensued.

x.X.x

Hina kicked the man off her, but the more she fought the dizzier she got, as if he had fed her a drug that acted faster the more adrenaline she exerted. "What did you do to me!" She screamed at him as he pushed her down on the ground, she tried to get up but George took her head and slammed it hard against the ground and soon she was seeing stars.

"Just stay still!" He yelled at her as he pinned her body to the ground with his own.

x.X.x

Cell was floating quite a bit above, watching as the man was attempting to take advantage of the woman he had been living with for far too long. She was fighting, but he could smell an odd toxin coming from her pores, the human had drugged her in an attempt to execute his obvious plan.

It didn't take long before she was completely subdued and the man was attempting to undress her in his drunken stupor. He scowled, he had known of such activities, but he never understood it fully. She had been in the car with him, whether it was to go to his house, or for him to drop her off, he had a possible chance with her and he chose to instead force himself upon her?

"Idiot number two," he said as he dropped down to the ground, the last thing he wanted was mentally scarred girl on his hands because she couldn't defend herself against a drunken rapist.

When Cell dropped down on the ground the man immediately looked towards him and so did Hina, though their expressions were completely different. George turned a dozen shades paler than he used to be and Hina's expression actually held…_hope_ and _joy_.

The man immediately let go of Hina and ran towards his car screaming and soon he was nothing but a distant shape on the road. Cell walked towards Hina as she lay down on the ground, her eyes were dilated and her right cheek was swollen.

"Enjoyed your night I presume?" He asked and she smiled and before she could speak she was asleep. Cell watched as she collapsed into sleep and smirked. "Foolish girl," he said as he picked her up and returned to her house, it would be no good leaving her in the middle of the road.

**(End of Cliché – What is done is done – you'll forgive me with therapy)**

x.X.x

Cell had dropped her down on her bed and then returned to the living room, she wouldn't be waking up until tomorrow and he doubted she would be in a good condition then, if she was drugged, or even if she wasn't, she would have a hangover.

**x.X.x**

**Hoped you liked it ^^ Next one will be up soon and it's the one I'm sure most of you have been waiting for.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Well, here's the promised chapter. PLEASE read the endnote after reading the chapter; it's VERY important to me.**

**Oh yeah, sorry that this chapter is so short compared to the others. **

**aquasage: Thanks for the reviews ^^ And not exactly anything you mentioned in the review, but I liked some of the ideas of it :P And yup, he is used to removing people from their clothes, usually by absorption, but heh. I'm really glad you like the story. I put a lot of effort into it. Hope you like this chapter, not sure what people will think of it. **

**Nervous to even post it :/**

**x.X.x**

(Next morning)

Cell watched as Hina came stumbling down the hall, her hand was on her head and her cheek was slightly purple. "My head is killing me," she mumbled almost incoherently as she stumbled towards the medicine cabinet, pawing through it for the headache pills.

"I can imagine," Cell commented as he watched her swallow down a few pills. "Come here," he said and she meekly looked at him before nodding, walking over to him slowly, as if each step hurt.

When she was in front of him she collapsed down on the couch and let out a sigh. "I've never felt this shitty before," she said and Cell smirked as he put his hand on her forehead.

"It will pass now," he said as he began healing her, purging her system of the drug and alcohol traces, as well as healing her cheek. When she was a dead weight around the house she was absolutely no use to anyone.

Seconds went by before her cheek was healed and then he removed his hand. "How does your head feel?" He asked her and she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Perfect," she mumbled as she stared at the roof and then suddenly looked towards Cell. "Thank you," she said and he smirked.

"It was that or you moaning the whole day about the 'pain'," he said and she shook her head.

"No, not that, helping me…with him," she clarified and Cell stared at her for a few seconds before nodding.

"Don't mention it," he said and she gave a nod, when he said 'don't mention it', it meant _never _mention it again because he didn't like being reminded of any act of kindness he _might've_ committed.

"Okay, but thanks, again," she said and he gave another nod.

Hina looked at his stiff nod and stifled a laugh; even if she was trying to be all casual about the event it had shaken her. She had honestly assumed that guy was decent and then he went and tried to take advantage of her. What were men coming to these days?

x.X.x

(Quite a few Months later – Hina's birthday)

Cell watched as Hina sat on the couch, downing shooter after shooter after shooter and singing a birthday melody to herself. "Are you going insane?" He questioned, he was surprised that after all this time he had still not run out of questions, though he had gotten a much better view on humanity through her.

Though it was going to come to an end soon, he was sensing that Goku and the others were becoming much stronger and he suspected it would soon be time for a rematch, more than two years had passed since he gave them time, it was more time that he had suspected he would give them, but spending time here had made the wait much more bearable.

"No," she babbled. "I just couldn't invite anyone to my house, wanna know why?" She slurred and Cell rolled his eyes and nodded, he already knew the answer. "Because _you're _here, you'll kill everyone!" She yelled as she threw her arms into the air and then began giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Oh, grow up," Cell said as he plopped down next to her and took the shooter she was about to down from her hand. "You've had quite enough," he said and she shrugged as she reached for the bottle instead.

Cell immediately grabbed it and held it to his side. "As I said, enough," he said and she pouted for a second before attempting to grab the bottle from him.

"Give it back, it's my birthday," she argued and Cell rolled his eyes as he shook his head.

"This is my present to you, the fact that you won't have a hangover tomorrow," he said and she growled at him as she grabbed hold of the tip of the bottle and started pulling at it with all her might, attempting to free it from his grip.

"I don't care about the hangover, gimme the bottle!" She moaned out angrily and Cell smirked as he suddenly let go, she immediately shot backwards with the bottle, falling against the wall with a loud thud.

"As you wish," he said with a laugh and she groaned painfully for a second.

"Must you always hurt me?" She grumbled as she rubbed her back and Cell smirked at her question.

"That couldn't possibly have hurt," he said and she glared at him and then took a swig of the bottle before walking back to the couch, clutching the bottle protectively.

"Well, fine, it didn't, but it will tomorrow," she said and then looked at him as he still held the shot. "Why don't you join me, you need to unwind a bit," she said and Cell snickered.

"I can't get drunk, my body heat will burn away the alcohol too quickly," he said and she stared at him for a few seconds before starting to laugh.

"That sucks," she said as she took the shot from his hands and downed it. "I'm on a cloud right now," she mumbled and Cell laughed now.

"Yes, well, just wait until you start to plummet back down to earth," he said and she shrugged her shoulders as she continued to drink. "Seriously, put away the liquor and go rest, it's after 11 already," he said and she shook her head.

"No," she argued and Cell was amused by how bold she had gotten with him, no one, not even Goku, would dare to speak to him this way, but he had no desire to harm her because of the way she spoke to him, it was just friendly and in many ways he had come to think of her as a 'friend'.

Cell reached out and took hold of the bottle and pulled it towards him, but she came along, clutching onto the bottle as if her life depended on it. "Let go," Cell said and she shook her head so he sighed and got on, dragging her and the bottle towards her bedroom.

"You let go," she said once they reached the inside of her room, she was pulling and pulling but she had no hope in hell of ever getting it out of his grip, lest he decided to let go.

Cell looked at her aggravated and desperate face and started laughing at her. "You amuse me," he said as he tried to pull the bottle out of _her _grip, but she had a death hold on it, he would need to remove her fingers from the bottle or make another plan.

He saw she was standing right by her bed, if he let go now she would collapse down on the bed and with the shock she would most likely lessen her hold on the bottle. With a smirk he let go of the bottle and watched as she shot backwards and towards the bed.

Time slowed down suddenly as he watched her head go straight for the sharp edge of the windowsill. He stepped forward quickly and grabbed her around the small of her back as he pulled her back up.

He had her a few feet above the ground and against his body and as he held her that way he looked at her intoxicated eyes. They were sparkling like two emeralds and dilated, he could see from the side of his eye her hand was still around the top of the bottle and hanging by her side.

Without proper comprehension of what he was doing he put his lips against hers and kissed her. He expected her to pull away or stiffen, or perhaps react in a way that would thwart him from his foolishness, but instead he felt her lips gently moving against his and a second later he heard the bottle in her hand clatter to the ground.

He folded both his arms around her securely and used one of them to hold the back of her head as he continued to kiss her and by some human foolishness she continued to return it.

It didn't take long for it to escalate and before he knew it he was holding her tightly against his body with his tongue halfway down her throat. He could taste both the liquor and the fruit she had eaten earlier on her lips and tongue.

He used the hand holding her back to lift up the back of her shirt a bit as he slipped his hand in under it, running his fingers over her bare back and it sent small sparks of pleasurable electricity coursing through his veins. He didn't understand this one bit, this sudden attraction he had to her.

By the time Cell had half her shirt off he came to his senses and immediately let go of the hem of the shirt and instead replaced both his hands around her waist. 'What am I doing?' He scolded himself and without warning he knocked her out.

He looked as she went limp in his arms, her shirt falling back in place, and with the jolts still running amok in his body he placed her down on the bed and quickly left the bedroom.

He had gotten too attached, this had gone too far and it was time he left, he had no more questions left for her, there was no reason to stay. The greatest gift he could give her was to allow her to live and return to her normal apple-pie life.

With a sigh he looked back towards the room and then wiped his mouth, it was time to leave.

**x.X.x**

**Please tell me what you thought of this chapter; this one took long to write due to the romance scene and I'm curious what you thought of it? So…now I'm begging. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT.**

**I'd like to know what you'd also like to see, remember, the story isn't finished yet, so ideas will be implemented once I add all the prewritten chapters. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Well, here you go, chapter is up. **

**Yomoko: Glad you liked the chapter and well, that scene IS coming, don't you worry about that. And naturally, the story wouldn't be able to go on if he was going to be gone forever, so, no need to worry **

**avaingirl777: Thanks for the review and glad you liked the chapter, thanks for adding me to your favorites. :P**

**midnight star237: Thanks for the review and glad to know you like the story so far **

**aquasage**** : Lol, never quite thought of it like that, but something like that yeah :P And wow, thanks for the story ideas; I have played all the legacy of goku gba games, none of the others really. And I did actually do something like your idea; more in the line of Janemba though; but that is still FAR off. Lol, Vegetarian Cell; that's quite an ironic thought, but it would probably be more like a 'no people' diet ^^ Tehehe. And NEVER apologize for a long post, I love long posts; means I learn something and the person cares to a certain degree :P**

**As for capsules…honestly…I forgot about them when I wrote the start of the story, but a farm girl wouldn't really have access to capsules, so it worked out for the best **

**x.X.x**

Hina woke up and the first thing to hit her was the hangover, with a throbbing head she sat upright and looked and instantly her memory of the previous night came back to her. "A dream…the last part at least," she whispered to herself as she got to her feet.

She would get up and drink the migraine pills and then get on with her day, she was officially 22 now.

x.X.x

When she got to the kitchen she was surprised to find it completely devoid of Cell, she looked around and then called his name a few times, but he didn't answer. With a sudden shock she realized he was gone. "Does that mean?" She asked herself and then immediately bolted back towards her room, ignoring the headache.

When she got to her room she looked towards the floor and found the spilled shooter bottle on the carpet, where she had dropped when he had kissed her. "He kissed me," she said to herself as she put her fingers to her lips, it seemed like a dream but the evidence pointed in the other direction.

He had left because of that.

She looked around a few more times and didn't know what to feel, she considered feeling exuberant about his departure, but her mind latched onto the fact that he had kissed her.

She couldn't come up with any form of a rational answer, so instead she lowered her head and shook it a few times.

x.X.x

Cell hovered above the house and sensed as her confusion took over, she was unsure whether anything she was remembering was true, but the horrid part was that it had been, he had been completely sober and he had wanted her. How could he even attempt to explain that to himself?

Perhaps in his attempt to understand humanity, he had unknowingly taken on some of their traits. "This has gone far enough," he said and then sped off towards Goku; it was time he ended this and destroyed the planet.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Hina picked up the phone and dialed her mother's number, she was positive Cell wasn't coming back. "Mom, it's me," she said when it reached voicemail. "Cell is gone, you can come home," she said with a soft laugh. "Love you," she ended and then put the phone down on the receiver again.

x.X.x

Cell reached the designated area where Goku requested they fight, the man had grown stronger and his son had reached super-Saiyan it seemed, but they would still be no match for him.

x.X.x

(1 hour later)

Hina was surprised when her mother had called back, her mother said she didn't want to return, that she had rented and started a new farm just outside of North City and that she had made some friends. She had left the entire farm and house to Hina, her daughter, and said if she wanted to sell it and go live with her she was welcome.

But Hina didn't want to sell it, in fact, she was happy, while her mother had been gone she had still harvested and sold the produce and it was a relatively good income. She never suspected she would _get _the farm just like that.

Though she was eager to see her mother, so she would go to her tomorrow or sometime in the week to check out her new farm…

She needed a way to forgot what happened in any case, regardless of how difficult she thought it might be.

x.X.x

(One hour later)

Cell felt the blast of the child Gohan envelop him and he couldn't believe what was happening… he was losing… no, he had already lost. How had the child become so powerful, how was it possible that a child could have such a powerful hidden ability?

Cell saw as the blast consumed his right hand, destroying the cells it touched completely, he was exhausted and barely had energy left and now he was going to die, even if he survived this blast he wouldn't have enough energy to fully regenerate himself from the damage.

His eyes snapped open suddenly as he brought his fingers to his forehead and concentrated on the one person who he knew well enough to remember and then he was gone, but not before the blast shaved off half of his side.

x.X.x

Hina was sweeping the kitchen when she heard something to her side collide with the ground hard, she jumped at the sound as she turned towards it and immediately her eyes widened.

Lying on her living room carpet was Cell, his one arm was gone and part of his upper body as well, while the rest of his body was covered in scratches and purple liquid, which seemed to be his blood.

"Oh my god!" She shrieked as she ran towards him and avoided looking at the severed body parts, it didn't look like flesh as it was a gray color, but his blood was purple so it might just be.

She saw him push himself up a bit with his one arm as he coughed up blood. "Are you okay? What happened to you?" She yelled as she bended down next to him, unsure of where to touch or what to do.

"Do I look okay to you?" He snapped out as he coughed up more blood, she shook her head immediately.

"No… how are you even alive…y-you're… almost cut in half," she said and Cell looked down at his side and grumbled as he focused all his power on re-growing his flesh, skin, armor and arm.

Hina put her hand over her mouth and scooted back a few inches in shock as she watched the flesh bubble and rebuild itself and soon the gaping hole was completely gone and his arm was starting to recover as well.

"I-I'll get you water," she said as she jumped to her feet and ran into the kitchen, grabbing a glass with shaking hands and filling it up, on her way back to him she spilled half the glass with her shaking.

She sat down next to him and held the glass out to him, Cell looked at it and a second later he smacked it out of her hand, hearing the glass shatter against the wall it hit. He saw Hina cringe for a second and after that she held her hand against her chest; he had obviously hurt it when he slapped the glass out of her hand.

"Can I get you anything else then?" She asked softly and Cell grunted.

"I need to rest," he said angrily, he was beyond angry and was doing his best to control it, but he couldn't help but let it slip out, he had given them too much time, but he had never suspected the boy would grow that strong. Goku was no problem to him, to think his child was the one he had to worry about.

Hina nodded. "I'll help you to the bedroom, you can sleep there," she said as she reached out to take hold of his previously gone arm, but he thrust his other hand out and grabbed her around her neck as he got to his feet.

"I'm not helpless! I can walk!" He yelled at her and her eyes went wide and then she nodded. Cell grunted as he let her go, she fell to the ground and started to cough, but he ignored her as he made his way towards the bedroom of the mother.

Hina got up a second later and scrambled after him, the bed didn't have any linen on it yet.

She found him standing in front of the bed and she spoke quickly. "Just wait a minute, I need to make the bed quickly," she said as she opened the linen closet and pulled out a sheet, but just as she had it in her hands a blast hit it; sending her flying backwards with the sheet incinerating before her eyes.

She landed a few feet from where she stood and looked at Cell, she felt tears stinging at her eyes for a stupid reason, but she couldn't understand why he was being so _rude _to her.

"Get out of my face!" Cell yelled at her as he still held his hand out to her, a yellow orb in it.

Hina gave a slow nod as she got to her feet and immediately left after that; what on earth had happened to him?

x.X.x

(Few minutes later)

Hina walked back into the room and saw Cell was asleep, his chest was heaving slowly and he looked peaceful. She gave a sigh as she opened the linen cupboard and took a duvet to throw over him.

x.X.x

(Five minutes later)

Hina heard her front door being knocked open and immediately ran from Cell's room towards the living room. When she reached it she saw a few men and a boy standing there. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house!" Hina yelled at them, who did they think they were _breaking _down her door and barging into her house?

The boy looked towards her. "Miss, Cell is somewhere on your premises," the boy said and Hina's eyes widened, how did they know that? Were they the ones that hurt Cell like that?

She looked at them and noticed all of them had perfectly sculptured bodies, their muscles were bulging and two of them were wearing dojo clothing. How could normal men hurt Cell like that? Unless they weren't normal at all.

"Please go wait in your room until we take care of him," the boy continued and her eyes widened, take _care _of him? Kill him they meant, they were hunting him like he was a wild animal. She instantly knew these were the people the big red man had spoken about, the people who would kill Cell.

"Okay…" She said and then ran towards the room Cell was in; when she reached it she closed the door and breathed harshly. What now? What should she do now? Tell them Cell was in here so that they could kill him and free the world?

She looked at his sleeping figure as she considered that. He wasn't entirely bad, he hadn't killed anyone since he took over the world, not that she knew of in any case. He was actually trying to understand her kind and despite the rudeness he had shown her moments before, she knew another side of him, a kinder side.

And he was going to die unless she did something.

Hina reached out and grabbed hold of his shoulders and gave him a quick shake, he grumbled and his eyes twitched, but he didn't wake up. "Cell…" She whispered, not wanting to alert the men outside of his presence inside.

But somehow…by some-way, they heard her. "Cell is in the room with the girl!" Someone from outside yelled and she immediately heard them run back into the house, her heartbeat increased and she shook Cell violently now.

"Wake up!" She screamed at him and his eyes shot open and he grabbed her by her throat immediately, but she still managed to speak. "There are men here to kill you!" She croaked out loudly and Cell's eyes widened as he let go of her.

He could sense them, they were here! As Cell was still preoccupied with that the bedroom door got knocked off its hinges and Gohan ran inside, followed by everyone else.

Hina looked at the boy stepping forward and he held his hand out to Cell, a big ball of blue appeared in it and her eyes widened. "Get out of the way miss," he said and Cell looked at Hina, he considered grabbing her and using her as a hostage, but the mere thought of it seemed pathetic to him, he wouldn't go down like that or use her as leverage.

"No," she said and everyone's eyes, including Cell's, widened. "Go away! He's injured!" She argued and Cell stared at her with wide-eyes. Why was she defending him, why wasn't she stepping aside and telling them to 'make it hurt'?

"Miss, move aside, he's killed millions!" Gohan said and Hina turned around and looked at Cell.

She stared into his cherry-colored eyes and mouthed 'go' to him and his eyes widened. He gave a nod and then suddenly grabbed her around her waist and pulled her against his body; she let out a yelp, but didn't try to move.

"Let her go Cell!" Gohan yelled as he still held the blast out to the both of them and Cell gave a sly smile as he brought his fingers to his forehead, he saw Gohan's hesitation at hitting the girl, he didn't need to grab her, but he wasn't going to leave her here with them.

And then he was gone, Gohan couldn't fire at the girl.

"Find him!" Vegeta yelled as he gave Gohan a disgusting look. "Stupid child!" He yelled and then stormed off, he would've blasted the woman, but Gohan was far too soft to even consider that.

x.X.x

Cell reappeared on a random island and then he let go of Hina and she dropped down on the ground. "To think they would find me there," he muttered to himself angrily, but he already knew how, they must've sensed him when he blasted the sheets and her.

He looked towards her and noticed her arms were slightly red from the heat of the blast, but otherwise she seemed to be in perfect health, except that she was a bit lagged from the transmission.

Hina looked up at Cell as he looked around and she did the same now, she had no idea where she was, it seemed to be some random island in the middle of nowhere. "Where are we?" She asked softly, afraid of provoking him, he seemed to be in quite the bad mood today and it was understandable, somehow, he had lost.

Cell looked at her. "On a tropical island," he responded and then walked towards her and bended down by her. "Why?" He asked and she didn't understand his question.

"What do you mean?" She asked and he scowled.

"Why didn't you just point them in my direction the second they walked through the door?" He asked and Hina stared at him long and hard, unable to decide on a proper sentence. "Why would you want me to escape?" He added.

"Because…" She started and then looked away from him. "…you're kind," she said and Cell stared at her for a few seconds before starting to laugh.

"I'm not _kind_," he said.

"You are to me," she replied softly and Cell stopped laughing and looked at her seriously. He supposed she was right, he wasn't exactly kind with her, but he wasn't destructive around her either, not since after the second year of knowing her.

"You know, by doing that you've made yourself an enemy of them and you can't return to your house for quite a while," he said and she nodded slowly.

"I figured that, I just need to phone my mother to get Blossom and take her to her farm," she said and then looked around. "How long are we going to stay here?" She asked and Cell shrugged his shoulders.

"Not long, only a few hours until I figure where to go, I won't be defeated twice," he grumbled and she could see his muscles tense at the fact that he lost against them. "I'll need to go to a remote location where I can train," he said and she nodded, but then thought of something.

"Why don't you… just surrender, live here on earth like you've been doing for the past few years?" She asked and he looked at her shocked.

"I will never surrender," he stated harshly and the way he said it made it obvious he wasn't planning on changing his mind.

"Okay," she said and then got to her feet. "Why don't you go to one of those houses in the middle of the forest, those cabins, some of them are abandoned," she said and Cell looked away from her and towards the ocean.

"It's a plausible idea, though I won't care whether it's abandoned," he said and her eyes went wide. "I'll drop you off wherever your mother is staying," he said and Hina didn't say anything.

"Why are you so quiet?" He asked after a minute of her silence.

"I…would…" She searched her mind for the right words, but couldn't find any, so she would just say it out straight. "…prefer to stay with you," she finished and Cell snapped his head towards her.

"I don't believe that would be appropriate considering what I did yesterday," he said and she was reminded of it when he mentioned it. "Further attachment to you won't be to either of our benefit," he said as he crossed his arms and looked away from her again.

Hina went red in her face as she remembered it. "You're attached to me?" She asked shyly, it seemed bizarre for him to say something like that and he said it so bluntly.

"Yes," he answered shortly and then looked back at her. "I'm not entirely sure how or when it happened, but I realized it yesterday," he said as he still looked at her, she was going redder in her face by the second.

"Oh," she said as she looked away from him. "So… you'll drop me off by my mother then?" She asked, changing the subject, and then looked back towards him, awaiting his answer.

He stared at her intently. "Why would you want to stay with me?" He asked suddenly and she immediately looked away from him.

"No reason, I was just kidding," she answered with a soft laugh and his eyes darkened.

"I'll drop you off by your mother right now then," he said as he held his hand out to her. "Just touch my hand," he said and she looked at his outstretched palm and then reached out, putting her hand against his. He instinctively closed his hand around hers and then brought his fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes.

x.X.x

When he opened his eyes again he was standing in the middle of the living room of a farm house, he looked around and immediately spotted the wide-eyed mother of Hina sitting on the couch.

Hina turned in the direction Cell was and when she located her mother she gave a happy wave, her mother was too petrified to return the greeting.

"There you go woman, your daughter is unharmed, unscathed and very much alive, not what you were expecting was it?" He asked mockingly and Jasmine said nothing, Cell looked towards Hina. "Goodbye," he said and then walked towards the front door, opened it and stepped outside.

He would search for a cabin on foot; flying released more energy that he was willing to emit at the moment.

When Cell was gone Jasmine jumped to her feet and ran to Hina, throwing her arms around her and clutching her to her body and soon her body was racking with sobs. "I was so worried about you while you were with him," she muttered against Hina's neck and Hina folded her arms around her. "I thought you said he left?" Jasmine added.

"He did, but then something happened and I was forced to come here," she said, not wanting to go into details, especially not the part where she saved Cell. "Mom, you'll need to go get Blossom because I'm going to be staying here, if that's okay with you?" She asked and Jasmine pulled away from her and gave a nod as she wiped the tears from her face.

"Of course, I need to go to the farmers market in that area today anyway," she said and then sighed as she looked her daughter over. "You've grown… and happy late birthday," Jasmine said and Hina smiled happily, her birthday had been an odd one, especially with Cell doing what he did.

"Thanks," she greeted and then looked around the house. "Can I look around?" She asked and Jasmine immediately nodded.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Cell had found a cabin in the woods, a few miles from where Hina's mother lived, and he didn't even need to kill the owner, he had scattered on the sight of Cell, screaming obscenities as he went. Training would be difficult since they would be able to sense his power level, but that was why he would create a vacuum of sorts.

He would create a shield that absorbed and deflected all energy, they wouldn't be able to sense him while he was inside, it would be hard maintaining the shield and exerting energy, but he had no choice. He would need to go visit Dr. Gero as well to find out exactly what the possibility for improvement was after perfection.

**x.X.x**

**Yup, I made the shield up, unless there is really something like that in DBZ. **

**Please review ^^**


	14. Chapter 14

**SORRY for the long update time: I had a world renowned amount of personal shit running rampant in my life. It's not an excuse, but it's about as much as I'm willing to disclose.**

**Anyway, on to happier things.**

**DiesAnotherDay: Thanks for the review, glad you liked it that much. :)**

**Bulma3678: You owe me a cookie! Lol, I added a second chapter to the update just because of the cookie **

**sangheili13: Glad you like it, still have quite a few chapters left to update. **

**Cupcakes and Tea: Now I want Tea, thanks for the review **

**Zerousy : You read it on a phone? Damn, I would never be able to do that, I like a good ol' book or a big ass computer screen. He is my favorite villain as well, so I saw no reason to change his personality, however, for the sake of 'love', he had to be changed just a tad. Glad to know I did the transition nicely. **

**As for sexual reproduction – I guess a lot is left up to the imagination, or perhaps, rather not. Sometimes it's just not good to think about things too much. But…if I must clarify it – he's made out of the cells of things that can reproduce. So it stands that he should as well – and that black cap thing by his 'crotch' just makes me laugh whenever I see it. Call it what you want, but it looks like a…yeah, well, it does. So reproduction traits + that = KIDS :D Horrible, terrible, hyperactive kids that you REALLY don't want to deny that chocolate bar. **

**And yup, your review made up for 13 chapters – I'm actually not big on reviews. I write for myself, not for others. If that ever changes I'm no longer a writer – I'm a tabloid. **

**Aquasage: Tehehe, I don't go too much into detail about his training, I focus on other things instead. Besides, detailing the training at every stop will get boring very quickly **

**Oh yeah, can someone PLEASE suggest a better summary for this story? I really suck at summaries. Would be highly appreciated. **

**x.X.x**

(Four Weeks Later)

Cell was irritated for two reasons. One was that Dr. Gero said that he could improve at the rate of any normal Saiyan, but then he would need to eat like one in order to keep his energy up, the part that annoyed him was that the food in the house lasted two days and the forest was a pinewood plantation, so there was no food in the forest. This had forced him to go at night and rob Jasmine's crops, he didn't care that he was doing it, but it still annoyed him.

The second thing that annoyed him was that even if he had the food he could only eat it raw, cooking had never been his forte and he wouldn't even try. Usually it would've been as easy as walking into a city and watching the people scatter, then he could just take what he wanted, but the second he caused panic they would know.

He hated hiding like a coward, but he had no choice, it was not his plan to die.

x.X.x

(Seven months later)

Hina was crouched down low by the fence with a black blanket over her body as she held a rifle in her hands. Both she and her mother were sick of the person that robbed them every fortnight for the last eight months.

She would catch the bastard and take him to prison, enough was enough. She knew it happened around this time, she had worked it out.

As she suspected someone stepped from behind one of the trees and casually made his way towards the vegetable patch. She crawled closer to the person; she would shoot a round into the air to make sure the person knew the rifle was loaded.

When she was a few meters from the person she jumped up and fired a shot into the air, it was too dark to see properly, but the outline indicated it was a male. "Stand still or I shoot again," she threatened as she held the rifle at almost point blank range.

Cell looked at Hina, he had seen her crawling around with a blanket over her and had been confused, but now he was even more, was she insane by threatening him with a _gun_? "Put the thing down, you'll just hurt yourself," he said as he bended down and pulled a carrot from the ground.

Hina's mouth fell open as the gun dropped from her hands. "Cell?" She asked in shock and he stepped closer to her, close enough that she could make out the green armor and white skin.

"Who else?" He asked as he pulled another carrot from the ground.

"Y-you're the one who's been stealing from us?" She asked in disbelief, it didn't make sense, he said he didn't need to eat, why was he… stealing food?

"I wouldn't call it stealing as I'm doing it right in front of you," he answered.

"Why?" She asked, she couldn't think of another question, it didn't make sense at all that he was doing this.

"Because I'm training and in order to sustain my energy level I need to eat, trust me, I'm not doing this because I'm hungry," he said as he uprooted another vegetable, he suddenly heard her snicker and looked at her.

She burst out laughing as she pointed at him, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "Y-you…" she tried to speak, Cell eyes narrowed.

"Are you mocking me?" He asked and she shook her head as she still laughed. "Then what are you howling about?" He asked and she put her hand over her mouth to try and control her laughter, the farm was far out from the house, but she didn't want to risk waking her mother up since it appeared the gunshot didn't.

"You're…" she took in a deep breath to try and stop her escaping laughter. "…cooking?" she finished and then started laughing again and Cell glowered at her.

"Do I look like I can cook?" He snapped and she went quiet suddenly, as if her joke had been ruined.

"You're eating it raw?" She asked and he gave a nod, she pulled a disgusted face. "But that doesn't give a lot of energy, you need to cook it to get the full effect," she said and Cell raised an eyebrow at her.

"How would you know? You barely cooked in the other place, it was pickles, bread or delivery," he said and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I know how to cook, I just never saw the reason to when there was something easier to make," she said and he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I just think you really don't know how to cook," he responded as he continued to uproot carrots.

"I do," she said as she scoffed. "How is your training going?" She asked, changing the subject.

Cell stopped picking vegetables and looked at her, she looked a bit older from the last time he saw her, when he had met her she had been a girl, she was now a woman. "Fine," he answered shortly. "Why haven't you returned to the other place yet?" He questioned and she sighed.

"I like it here, I actually sold the other farm, boosted this one a lot with the money," she said and Cell nodded, he would never understand the need for money, it was just a piece of paper.

"Oh, okay, well, goodbye," he said as he turned to leave with his armful of carrots, but she reached out and grabbed his shoulder, he stopped and tilted his head over his shoulder. "Hmm?"

"Are you in a hurry to get back?" She asked and Cell turned back to her.

"Rather," he answered and she shuffled from foot to foot. "Spit it out," he said and she sighed.

"I thought I'd perhaps make you a pot to take with you," she said and he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Make me a 'pot'; what would I need a 'pot' for?" He asked and she tried to control her laughter, stifling it.

"I meant food, a pot of food," she clarified.

"Oh," he said and then turned to her fully. "How long will it take?" He asked and she went into thought.

"Well, I'll use the big pot, actually more of a cauldron, so I'd say about… 5 hours?" She said and Cell immediately shook his head.

"I don't have the time today," he answered and she sighed as she gave a nod. "Why would you want to do that in any case and why do you need me here to do it?" He asked and she shrugged her shoulders and then sighed.

"Well, because I can't imagine raw carrots are appealing," she said and Cell nodded in agreement, they weren't. "And I want to talk to someone, I don't get out a lot and don't know anyone as well as I know you," she confided and Cell smirked.

"You want to bounce your thoughts off me?" He asked in amusement.

"Something like that," she said sheepishly and Cell snickered.

"Very well, I'll humor you, I'll be here tomorrow night then," he said with a laugh and then walked off; she hadn't changed much after all. The true appeal of her idea was food that didn't taste like ground, it didn't bother him much, but having something else that provided more energy and actually tasted edible would be nice.

Hina watched him go and was actually surprised that he had agreed, she was sure he would ditch the idea the second she mentioned it. She had been lonely the last few months, her mother wasn't company since she was too used to her company and even if Cell was silent most of the time, he was still company.

Tomorrow would be a better time, because her mother was going to the farmer market and staying with her aunt until the stored produce was sold. "Better go take what I'm going to need," she said as she walked towards the storehouse.

x.X.x

(Next Day)

The second her mother was gone she ran to her stash of vegetables and began peeling, chopping and grating them, it would be a lot of work to make a cauldron of food, but she had nothing better to do.

x.X.x

(Night)

Hina saw Cell come into view, she had just stoked the fire and it was the only light source besides the moon that they had, well, it was more of a bonfire. "Hey," she greeted and he crossed his arms and gave a nod.

"I would've thought you'd have started already," he said and she gave a laugh.

"Well…you see… I would've…" she went red in her face. "But… the pot… is kind of big…and…heavy…" she said embarrassed and Cell smirked.

"Can't carry it?" He asked and she gave humiliated nod. "Where is it?" He asked and she pointed towards the barn.

"I'll show you," she said as she started to walk towards the barn, when she reached it she opened it and the both of them stepped inside. She put on the light and pointed to a huge cauldron standing against the corner, she had already cleaned it, she just couldn't move it.

Cell laughed. "Weakling," he said as enclosed his one hand around the rim of the pot and lifted it off the ground as easily as she would lift a feather.

"I'll give you that one," she said as she stared in awe, even though she knew he was powerful, it was the little things like this that proved to her exactly how powerful he was.

He smirked at her answer as he walked out of the barn; she put off the light, exited and closed the door before following behind him.

"Do I put this on the fire?" He asked and she gave a nod, he put it down on the wood and she walked towards the hosepipe to fill it up with water.

When that was done she stretched out. "I'll be back right now, I need to get the food," she said and then clattered off towards the house; Cell watched her go with a sense of amusement.

She was a funny female at times, other times she was annoying.

x.X.x

Cell watched Hina go back in forth with Tupperware's full of vegetables and meat, some chopped, some sliced and some grated. He had offered to help her, but she had refused, saying she had enough strength to carry it, something that made him laugh. When she finally came back she had a bottle of spirits in her one hand and a large canister of juice in the other, she had two plastic cups in her arms.

"I don't know if you wanted something to drink or not, so I brought two cups," she said and Cell watched as she put the spirits down.

"No thanks and you're seriously going to drink? Considering how you feel every time you do?" He asked and she laughed as she poured herself a drink.

"It's only when I drink too much, which won't happen today, I've only been drunk three times in my life," she said and Cell said nothing as he directed his eyes towards the fire.

When she was done pouring herself a drink she started putting the food into the pot in the order that they would cook.

When she was finished she sat down a few feet from Cell. "So ready to hear me moan about everything?" She asked with a laugh and Cell didn't look amused with her question.

"Not really," he answered and she laughed.

"I'm kidding, I just want to talk, about anything really," she said and Cell nodded as he crossed his arms, he had the feeling this would be the longest five hours of his life.

**x.X.x**

**Next one will be up – Remember, once I reach the end of my stockpile it is going to take significantly longer for me to update since I'm currently updating faster than I write; sort of. Either way, so beware of when that day comes.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Extra update to say sorry for the LOOONG update wait and for the cookie. **

**x.X.x**

(2 hours later)

"I want to know about Jade," Cell said suddenly, their conversation had gone deep enough that he considered that he could ask her without her taking offense. Hina stopped mid-sip and looked at him.

"I already told you about that," she answered softly as she put the cup down, she adverted her eyes from his as her mouth pulled into a tight line.

"You like children a lot, don't you?" he asked and she gave a stiff nod. "Then why haven't you reproduced to create your own, to fill the space that you say has been empty since her death?" He asked, he didn't understand it completely, she said she was empty and she had the means to fill it; she didn't need to stay with the man. Humans were like animals, they didn't need to stay with the mate if they only wanted the child.

Hina's eyes widened as she looked at him, unsure of whether he was joking or not. "Are you kidding?" She asked and he shook his head. "Okay…wow… well, firstly, I'd need to be married before I decide to have a child and I don't think I'm ever going to be completely ready for either," she answered.

"I see no reason why not, your offspring should be healthy and the motherly instinct usually only occurs after the birth of the child," he said and her eyes were still wide.

"I'm not an animal, I'm not going to go jump and hump someone's just to get a kid out of the deal," she said mortified and Cell started to laugh. "What's so funny?" She asked and he continued to laugh.

"The way you said it, I'd actually like to see that, it would be humorous," he answered and she sighed before starting to laugh softly.

"Yeah, I guess it would be funny," she said and Cell smirked.

"Where is your father if I may ask?" He asked and Hina went silent. "Something I said?" He asked after a few seconds of her silence.

"I don't know where he is, or where Jade's father is," she said and Cell scrunched his eyes.

"So your mother…" Cell started.

"Jumped and humped someone," Hina said bitterly as she crossed her arms. Cell cleared his throat; he had hit a nerve with the question.

"You know, I think I will take something to drink," he said, being the one to change the subject now. The rage in her eyes vanished with his request and she gave a nod as she opened the juice bottle and poured a cup for him; when she was done she gave it to him.

He brought it to his lips and drank; even if he didn't need liquid to live the taste wasn't half bad. "How do you do that?" She asked and Cell looked at her in confusion, having absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"Excuse me?" He asked as he put the cup down on the grass.

"That," she said pointing towards the cup, leaving Cell even more confused, was she asking how he _drank_ something? "I've seen a fragment of your strength, how do you manage to hold something and not break it?" She asked and Cell started to laugh.

"Control," he answered shortly. "I could break it without effort, but I choose not to," he said and she nodded as she looked at the cup.

"Those men… that came for you…who and what are they?" She asked now, she didn't know whether he'd be willing to talk about it, but it was quite a while back, she saw Cell's eyes narrow.

"Three of them were human, four were aliens and the green one was also an alien," he said and her eyes were wide at the fact that he spoke so casually about aliens, something that humanity considered a myth on average.

"Why didn't you kill them when you took over the world, where were they at that time?" She asked and Cell scowled.

"I defeated and killed all of them when I won in my tournament, but I brought them and everyone else back that I've killed. I brought them back because I wanted more of a challenge, I was disappointed, the rest of the people I brought back, such as you, was just because I wanted to," he answered and she gave a nod. "Giving them such a vast amount of time to train was a mistake I shouldn't have made," he said bitterly and she shrugged her shoulders.

"You wanted a challenge and you got it, the next challenge for you now is to become stronger than they are," she said and Cell gave a stiff nod.

"I will," he answered and then looked towards the pot, he could smell the food cooking inside and it smelled pleasant. "What about you, what exactly are your plans for the future?" He asked and she was taken off-guard by the question.

"Uh…well… I don't know actually, the only job I'll ever have is running the farm so further studies aren't really necessary… I'll just…be here my entire life," she said and Cell grimaced at her answer.

"That is utterly repetitive; don't you have any goals or dreams?" He asked and she immediately nodded.

"Of course I do, everyone does," she said.

"What are they?" He pried.

"Well… I always wanted to visit space to see earth from afar, but that's impossible since the people who do that charge an impossible sum of money, that is one of my dreams. I would also like to, for once in my life, experience utter happiness, to just be happy and care about nothing else, to just be wrapped in happiness. My goals aren't really anything important, I want to take Blossom to the show next fall and try to win it," she said with a laugh as she looked over at the stable where her mare was. "I guess that's the only goal I have, planning too far into the future can be disastrous," she said and Cell nodded as he got to his feet.

"Stand up," he said and she gave a nod as she got to her feet, still holding her cup in her hand.

"Okay, but why?" She asked.

"Put down the cup and give me your hands," he instructed strictly and she stared at him oddly, but did as he asked.

She held out her hands and he took each in one of his own. "Close your eyes, you're going to feel a surge of energy within yourself, do not be alarmed," he said and her eyes widened.

"What are you going to do?" She asked nervously as she looked at their hands.

"I'm going to borrow you an extremely small fraction of my power," he said and her eyes widened more.

"Why?"

"Because I have a certain ability that you will need in the coming minutes, now close your eyes," he said and she was completely unsure of his intent, but she nodded and closed her eyes.

Cell closed his eyes as well and pushed his energy into her through his hand; it was too small for the fighters to take notice of, but more than enough for his purpose.

Hina was still relatively confused when she suddenly felt energy pulse up through her fingers and then it burned through her body like a wildfire, she let out a gasp as her eyes flew open.

Cell let go of her hands as he opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was her flabbergasted expression. "Feels different, doesn't it?" He asked and she nodded in awe. "You can lift that pot all by yourself now, with the water and everything in," he said and her eyes widened.

"No way," she said as she walked towards the pot, she picked up two mittens to put on but Cell grabbed them from her.

"You won't burn," he said and she narrowed her eyes skeptically at him. "Trust me," he said mockingly and she sighed as she tested the heat with her finger and was surprised, she could _feel _it, but it didn't hurt her.

"Wow," she said and then placed her hands around the rim of the pot and slowly started to lift it, at first she thought it was her imagination, but then she realized she was actually lifting the pot. With wide eyes and a freaked out expression she lowered the pot back down onto the firewood and looked at her hands. "Wow again," she said and Cell laughed at her.

"Small things amuses-"

"Don't you dare say that!" She interrupted as she lifted the pot up again and then put it down again.

"Very well, come here," he instructed and she turned around and walked towards him, she stepped when she was a few feet from him. "Closer," he instructed and she nervously stepped closer until she was a foot from him.

"Give me your hand and close your eyes again," he said and she sighed as she closed her eyes and held out her hand towards him.

Cell took hold of her hand and then closed his eyes and put his fingers on his forehead and a second later he disappeared.

x.X.x

Cell opened his eyes and looked around and then looked towards Hina, her eyes were still closed and her feet were dangling in the air. "This is to repay you for not pointing the fighters in my direction," he said. "You may open your eyes," he finished as he let go of her hand and turned her in the direction of earth.

Hina opened her eyes and the first thing she was greeted with was the image of earth from afar. Her face twisted in confusion and Cell saw she didn't realize where she was.

"Hina, this is not a planetarium, look around you," he said and she turned around and her eyes widened.

She could see the moon and asteroids floating around her, she looked down and saw only blackness and stars that were far off. She swung towards Cell with horrified eyes. "Can't be," she said and Cell smirked.

"I needed to give you my ability to breathe in space before I brought you here," he said and she turned towards Earth and went completely silent.

Cell stared at her, she was staring at her planet like she was in shock, he was sure that was the case; a mortal didn't think anything like this was possible and it _was _one of her dreams.

Hina's mind felt blank, she couldn't wrap her mind around this, she just couldn't, it was impossible, nothing but a dream!

"I'll let you watch for a bit before we return," Cell said as he continued to look at her, he was sure her stupor would wear off before they needed to return. Though seeing her like this, in utter awe, made it worth bringing her, she was a strange mortal, but she was unique to him.

**x.X.x**

**Thanks for reading and please review Next one will be up soon. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Zerousy: Well, surprise! Next chapter is up! I shouldn't be too delayed in updates now that my personal shit is over for the time being. **

**Bulma3678: Haha, yeah, thanks for the review **

**Cupcakes and Tea: Aw, thanks for the review. I try my best in that category. **

**Also, this chapter might not be one of your favorite, there's a bit of a 'fight' in it.**

**x.X.x**

(Two Hours Later)

Cell had been right, it had taken her about 20 minutes to snap out of her trance and after that it was hard to keep up with her, she had floated around and talked so fast he couldn't understand a word she was saying.

"It's time to go," he said towards her as she was examining an asteroid, poking it carefully. She looked up at him.

"But…why?" She asked and Cell sighed at her sudden morbid expression.

"Because, down there," he said pointing to earth. "Is a pot of food that might or might not be burnt already," he said and her eyes widened as she remember the food.

"Oh right, I forgot," she said and then put her arms around the asteroid. "I'm ready to go," she said and Cell raised an eyebrow at her.

"You want the rock to come with?" He asked and she gave a stiff nod.

"Souvenir," she explained and Cell laughed as he glided over to her and took her by her wrist, she automatically closed her eyes and he smirked, and then they were gone.

x.X.x

The second they arrived back on the planet Hina moved the rock aside, still surprised she was able to do that, and then ran towards the food and stirred it with a giant wooden spoon, adding the last ingredients…

Her heart was pounding from the experience she had just had, to think he would see the need to repay her for saving him, but she was glad he had decided on doing so because she would _never _in her entire life forget it.

When she was done stirring she picked up the bottle of spirits and looked at Cell. "Bet you can't take this from me now that I'm supercharged," she said with a laugh and Cell snickered.

"I gave you less than 0.5% of my power and you're getting cocky?" He asked and she giggled.

"Explains why you're so arrogant then," she said as she opened the bottle and poured her another drink.

"I'm not arrogant," he defended.

"Saying you're not arrogant is arrogance," she said and he smirked.

"I'll give you that one," he said as he folded his arms, a smile on his face.

Hina looked at him and found herself smiling as well, at first she had thought he was a friend in the forest, then she had thought he was a monster and now she found herself enjoying his company. "You're not a monster," she said suddenly and Cell looked her in the eyes.

"What did you say?" He asked and she took in a deep breath.

"You're not a monster Cell, I was wrong to ever think you were," she said and he raised his eyebrows in skepticism, confusion and speculation.

"I am a monster, I kill without hesitation," he said, as if defending himself and she shook her head.

"You don't, you haven't killed anyone I know of since you won that tournament of yours," she said and Cell grunted. "And you haven't killed me like you said you were going to," she said and Cell uncrossed his arms.

"I have no hesitation about killing you," he said and Hina wasn't sure whether he was telling the truth or not, but she had the idea he wasn't.

"Then do it," she said and his eyes widened.

"You _want _me to kill you?" He asked in disbelief.

"No, not really, I just don't think you'll do it," she said and Cell let out a laugh.

"Don't get too cocky, granting a wish of yours doesn't mean I care about you in any sense of the word," he said and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Fine, then kill me," she said as she opened her arms in invitation.

"It will raise red flags if I use energy," he said quickly.

"Break my neck then," she said as she dropped her arms and walked up to him, staring into his eyes and he stared back down at her.

Cell wondered what her point was in this insanity; she was daring him to kill her because she thought he wouldn't, it made no sense. "Remember that eye incident? Are you sure you want to test me?" He questioned and she shrugged her shoulders, but didn't answer him.

Cell reached out and put his hand over the left side of her neck, her skin was cold compared to his. He put his other hand on the opposite side and positioned it so that it would take nothing more than a twist to snap her neck. He looked at her eyes and saw they held absolutely no fear. 'Is she that positive I won't do it?' He asked himself in his mind as he kept his hands there.

Hina felt his hands on her neck, but he wasn't moving it otherwise, A minute passed where he just stared at her with his hands on her neck and she smiled now, he couldn't do it. He really did care about her if he couldn't do it; she felt her heart swell at the possibility. "C'mon, I don't have all day, if you can't do it I need to stir the food again," she said, a happy smile still plastered on her face.

Cell saw her mocking smile and heard her sentence and growled. "Don't mock me you insolent female!" He yelled at her as he dropped his hands from her neck and instead put each hand on her shoulders, gripping it tightly, if it wasn't for his energy in her it would've hurt.

"I'm not mocking you!" She yelled back and Cell knew whatever aggression she had was coming from his energy, though he didn't appreciate it either way. Her eyes darkened as she stared into his, which had also darkened considerably.

"You are! Just by your request for death you're mocking me!" He hissed out.

"Then just say it!" She bit back and Cell gritted his teeth.

"What the hell do you want me to say?" He screamed now as he shook her once, her head bobbed back for a second, but then straightened out as she stared daggers at him – he would need to make a pointer of not giving his energy to her again as she got aggressive.

"That you don't want to kill me! Is it really so hard!" She spat out and Cell gripped her shoulders hard enough that she flinched. "Hey, that hurts!" She groaned out as he tightened it even more, restraining his anger was hard at this point, he could crush her shoulder blade in a second, but he was trying not to.

"Don't ever attempt to coax me into saying something you want to hear again," he said calmly, but his voice dripped with venom and Hina's eyes were wide now. She hadn't realized he had gotten so angry.

Cell saw her petrified look and let go of her and then turned around and started to walk towards the forest, he had no desire to be here anymore.

Hina watched him walk and guilt suddenly swam up in her, what was wrong with her a second ago? Why had she acted like that? "Wait!" She yelled after him, but he didn't stop walking. She swallowed her pride and ran after him.

She reached him after a few seconds and grabbed his arm. "Wait," she said softer and Cell stopped and turned around to look at her, shrugging her hand off him, his eyes were darker than she had ever seen before. "I'm sorry," she breathed out, she didn't know why she did that, but she had her answer now. She had never seen him this angry before and yet he had not taken her life, he didn't want to kill her and he didn't need to say it.

Cell turned towards her fully and crossed his arms, he examined her expression and it was guilt-ridden. He understood her sudden feeling of guilt as well as he understood her spurt of anger. The energy pulsing through her body belonged to him and was linked to him, when he had gotten angry she got angry and when he felt guilt for having hurt her shoulder she returned the guilt. All of this because _he _was the one who wanted to ask her a question that was best left unasked.

Hina saw his expression but she couldn't read it, so she continued. "Please, the food is almost ready, just a few minutes, at least take it home with you when it's done," she begged and Cell sighed as he let his arms drop to his side.

"Very well," he said and then walked passed her and towards the food, the energy wouldn't remain in her much longer, it should actually be working out already.

Hina sighed in relief as she tagged after him.

A few minutes went by in silence and Hina was just finishing up the pot as she stirred it; the air between them had grown awkward since their little spat and she didn't like it one bit.

Cell watched her stir the food and then she stopped and looked at him. "It's done," she said softly as she stepped away and then reached for the Tupperware's and soon she started to dish the food into it; he couldn't just leave the pot around, it would be preserved much longer if it was in the Tupperware.

"There's no need to do that, it will be gone before it goes bad," he said and she gave a nod as she tossed the food she had gathered back into the pot.

"Alright, you can take it then," she said and Cell got his feet and walked towards the pot, he placed his hand on the rim. "Aren't you planning on taking any for yourself?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No, there's still leftovers in the house," she answered and Cell gave a nod.

"Very well, I'll return the pot once the food is gone," he said and she nodded and then he was gone with the pot.

Hina let out a long dreadful sigh as she picked up the spirits, canister of juice and cups and then started to shamble towards the house, why did she always ruin everything?

**x.X.x**

**Sorry if the chapter wasn't all fluffy, but a bit of drama is good for the soul.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm pacing the story a bit fast at the moment, but the most important parts will be drawn out. Not in this chapter really, but soon enough.**

**Bulma3678: Never ate a tootsie roll, so not really intrigued by it :P But I'll update just for the gesture of calling it an awesome fanfic. Loves you for that :P**

**FoxyAlterEgos: Thanks, hope you'll continue to like it. **

**x.X.x**

(Few days later)

Cell finished off the last of the pot she had made; she had been right when she said a cooked meal provided much more energy than a raw vegetable or fruit. He had trained extensively for the last few days, he didn't rest once, only stopping to eat and regain energy and it had paid off.

Since that night he had felt guilty, something he wasn't used to. He shouldn't have left just like that, he had felt her guilt and embarrassment over the matter and he had just left.

He couldn't believe he had been reduced to feeling guilty about hurting the feelings of a mortal. But he wouldn't stand for it, he wouldn't apologize and he wouldn't see her again, he would just go there, drop off the pot without her knowing and return. Thieving the vegetables she would be aware of and he assumed she didn't care, so he wouldn't need to make contact with her again.

With a sigh he took hold of the pot, he might as well drop it off now.

x.X.x

Cell arrived at the barn and immediately sensed the energy of a male within the house. He stiffened as he considered it might be Gohan, but it only took half a second to realize the power-level of the man was pathetic, he was human.

After putting the pot in the barn he stared towards the house in speculation, did she or her mother have guests? He couldn't sense the mother, but he could tell Hina was standing near the man. Perhaps she was being robbed?

He piqued his ears to hear what type of conversation was going on.

"Thanks for bringing me home," He heard Hina say. "I didn't realize how far I had walked," she said with a laugh and the man returned it.

"A girl like you shouldn't walk around in the night, it's dangerous," the man said.

"I know, just had to clear my head, I hope you enjoy your night further Eric," she said.

"Trust me, I will now that I've met you," he said and Hina let out an embarrassed laugh. "Can I see you again?" He asked and Hina was silent.

"I… sure," she answered hesitantly and the man smiled.

"I'll come drop by again, see you again," he said and then Cell heard the door close and soon the sound of a car starting and driving off.

Cell smirked, seems someone liked her, it was about time as she was a beautiful woman, the only thing putting a dent in her dating life was the fact that she worked on the farm all day long.

With a soft laugh he turned around and started walking back towards the cabin, he had returned the pot; he had no reason to stick around.

x.X.x

Hina stared out of the window, watching the man drive away and she felt an odd feeling of nervousness over the fact that he wanted to see her again; she didn't exactly trust the male species after her last encounter.

The only reason she had gone for a walk so late was because she wanted to clear her head of the guilt she felt since she had pushed Cell into a corner like that. She was pretty sure she'd never see him again after that night, his anger was obvious.

x.X.x

(Three Weeks Later)

Cell was still a no-show, though he had returned the pot at some point, she was disappointed that he didn't come to her to return it, but what did she expect him to do?

She looked over at Eric as he sat at the dining table, talking to her mother; the two seemed to get along just fine and she found that surprising, her mother was very skeptic when it came to men; though Eric was a nice guy.

She had been seeing him daily, but despite that she didn't feel like she had any sort of bond with him, he was nothing more than a friend to her and she knew he was aiming higher than that.

"I'll be right back," she said towards them and then stepped out of the house and into the backyard. She started walking until she reached the barn and then she slid down against the wall, putting her arms over her knees and her head on her hands, just staring ahead at the plantation.

She knew where Cell was, she was pretty sure he was at the cabin a few miles into the forest, but she didn't have the guts to go there and apologize again; she didn't think it would help in any case.

Her mother didn't even know of the friendship she shared with him, she just thought he was gone, killed maybe, if she knew she would get a heart-attack on the spot. No mother wanted to know their daughter was friends with a 'monster'.

x.X.x

Cell fell down on the ground, his arms spread as he dissipated the shield, he started laughing suddenly. His strength had improved by twice as much as it used to be while he could sense the fighters were relaxing. They must've thought he fled the planet after his close encounter.

Didn't they understand this planet belonged to him? When he went to them again he would kill them, he wouldn't give them a chance to improve more; he would have to be wary of the child, he didn't want him to go into a rage again, perhaps he would kill him first.

Perhaps he would bring them to him, use his energy to signal where he was, he was sure they would come running to finish him off, though his best bet would be to go to the house of Goku and catch them by surprise.

With a smirk he sat up, lifting up one of his knees and letting his one arm dangle over it as he stared at the surrounding plantation. There was nothing quite like knowing you had improved enough to face a challenge.

He would train for a few months more and then he would go, he wanted to make it an easy victory to regain the pride he had lost when he had been defeated. To think he would've been dead if the girl hadn't shaken him awake.

He owed her his life, or part thereof.

He looked in the direction the farm was, he could sense the energy of the man, Hina and her mother. It seemed her interest in the man had grown since he was still hanging around.

She deserved to find happiness; it was one of her dreams after all, to be happy. She had said she wouldn't be a good mother, but he begged to differ, she was far too caring for her own good and that said enough about her capability to look after a child. Though he suspected the child would get away with murder since she was so soft, hopefully the human man was stricter than she was.

x.X.x

(Few weeks later)

"Hina," Eric said as he stood a few feet from her, she was sitting at the table and building a puzzle. She raised her head.

"Yes?"

"I've known you quite a while now," he began and her eyes widened immediately.

'Oh no,' she thought immediately. 'Please no,' she continued and she saw Eric fiddling with his fingers.

"Well, I think you know I like you," he said and she was too mortified to give any indication that she had heard him. "Well, I think it's time I formally asked you out," he said quickly and then looked into her eyes, awaiting an answer.

Hina realized she had lost her ability to speak because try as she might she couldn't form a single word. They stuck in her throat the second she thought of them; instead it felt like bile was crawling up her throat, she was so nervous she could puke.

Eric looked at her silent face and sighed. "You don't need to answer now," he said and then smiled. "You can phone me when you've decided, see you later," he said and then walked up to her, giving her a kiss on her forehead before leaving.

The second he was gone Hina let out a long sigh, able to finally breathe again, she shot to her feet and ran out of the backdoor, she felt suffocated in the house all of the sudden. Times like this she really wished she had known her father, dads were great, they would usually scare the crap out of any guy who got close to their daughter and she wanted that right now. She wanted a father who would hold him at gunpoint and ask him if he was messing with her.

"Pro's and con's," she said aloud as she leaned against the house wall, she would work out the pro's and con's of being with Eric and then she would decide, she didn't need to say yes, but she might just be throwing away her future if she didn't.

x.X.x

(Later that day)

Hina fiddled with the phone, she had made her choice and it was no; the mere idea of accepting someone in her life in such a way made her uncomfortable. The pro's outweighed the cons, but it didn't matter to her, her mind was made up.

The hardest part was telling him.

"Have to get it behind me," she said as she dialed his number, and after a few seconds of ringing she heard his voice. "Hey, it's me," she said, trying to make her voice sound as light as possible.

"Hey!" He greeted happily and she felt her heart sink through her feet, why was it so hard letting someone down?

"I've made up my mind," she said morbidly.

Eric was quiet on the other side of the line for a few seconds. "The answer is no, isn't it?" He asked and she knew her voice had given it away.

"I'm sorry," she offered and he gave a soft laugh on the other side.

"It's no problem, I'm sorry I pressured you," he said and her eyes went wide, why was he taking it so lightly?

"O-oh," she stuttered. "Thanks for understanding," she said after swallowing down her shock. How…lax… of him, she had gathered over the years that men didn't handle rejection very well.

"It's no big deal, really," he said, his voice happy again and her mood instantly lifted, it was over and there was no bad feelings.

"I'm glad," she said as she smiled now, she always thought the worst when she went into something.

"Like I said, no problem, anyway, I'm expecting visitors in a few minutes, but speak again," he said and she said her goodbye and then put down the receiver.

"Well…that was easy," she said to herself, even though it was over she still had a knot in her stomach. "Silly emotions," she said as she got up, her mother was bound to arrive home soon and Hina said she'd make dinner, so she'd better get started.

x.X.x

(Few Days Later)

Hina sat at the dining table as she stared out of the window, apparently by telling Eric she had no interest meant he had no need to come around anymore. She hadn't seen or heard from him since she had said 'no'. Her mother wasn't happy about her decision, she moaned about never getting grandchildren.

To be completely honest with herself, she wanted children, but she was afraid after what happened to Jade, afraid she would somehow lose the baby, or that the child would die at a later age. She wouldn't be able to survive something like that twice.

With a sigh she leaned back against the chair and stared at the ceiling. 'Well, back to being completely alone,' she said in her mind.

x.X.x

Cell dropped the shield around himself and sat down on the grass, he had sensed that for the last few days the male hadn't come to the house. He supposed it didn't work out between the two, he had half a heart to go ask why as it intrigued him.

Though he wouldn't do that, he didn't have time to chit-chat and it was better if he kept his distance from her, she had softened a part of him and even if he didn't like admitting it, it was true.

At least he knew she was still alive because he could sense her energy vividly from where he was.

x.X.x

(Few Months Later – Her Birthday – Late at Night)

Hina sat out on the backdoor porch and stared up at the stars, she was feeling a bit intoxicated from her birthday party, but it was subsiding quickly. Her mother had actually organized a surprise party for her.

She had woken up, walked into the kitchen with her PJ's on, her hair completely disheveled and her skin pasty, only to find her entire family standing there and screaming 'surprise' at her. It was a surprise and utterly embarrassing, but she had survived through it. Apparently turning 23 was a bigger deal than when she turned 21.

Luckily it ended a few hours ago and she could actually have some peace and quiet, her mother had passed out about five hours into the party from the punch she had made herself; her mother never did have a good measuring hand when it came to vodka.

She yawned as she put her arms around her, it was relatively chilly outside, but she was sitting far too comfortably to go inside and get a jacket.

x.X.x

Cell stood a few meters from Hina, watching as she rubbed her skin in an effort to warm herself up. He had debated about coming today and had finally decided he would congratulate her with her birthday because tomorrow he was going to go and face off against Gohan and even though he was pretty sure he was going to win there was still the chance that he was going to die.

He hadn't even known it was her birthday until he had felt the influx of energy from the house and then he just put two and two together.

Cell watched as she shivered and with a smirk on his face he held his hand out towards her and started transferring a fraction of his energy into her from the distance. She wouldn't be cold anymore and if she was intoxicated she would sober up immediately, this time though he made sure it wasn't enough energy to make her lose control of her own emotions. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

Hina felt warmth enter her body and she slowly removed her arms from around herself and stared at them. "What on earth?" She asked herself as she still stared at her arms, as if they would give her an answer.

"Congratulations on your birthday," she heard from her side and her eyes widened when she recognized the voice, she snapped her head to the right and her eyes immediately landed on Cell.

**x.X.x**

**The next chapter I wrote with delicate care because it's his goodbye. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Here's the 'delicate' chapter – handle with care.**

**Bulma: Thanks for the review, however – too sick to care for sweets at the moment :X**

**Cupcakes and tea: Well, here's the next chapter, hope you like it **

**Please R&R**

**x.X.x**

Her mouth fell open; it had been so long that she had thought she would never see him again. "You…remembered my birthday?" Was the first thing she asked, she couldn't see why he would remember that as it wasn't exactly useful information.

"No," he answered with a laugh. "I sensed the commotion and figured it out," he said and she gave a nod, as if she was disappointed.

"Oh, well, thanks," she said and looked away from him, the awkwardness was still present and she didn't like it at all.

Cell crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the house. "I'm going to go and take on those fighters tomorrow," he said and she snapped her head towards him, her eyes large again.

"Are you strong enough now?" She questioned as she started to fidget with her fingers, what if he wasn't strong enough?

"I believe so," he said placidly.

"Believe so or know so?"

"I don't usually make it a habit to mispronounce my sentences," he said, answering her question by saying that.

"So… you think you could get killed?" She asked, trying to bring up the subject as lightly as possible.

"I could," he said with a nod.

"Then why are you going?" She almost yelled and Cell stared at her for a few seconds before looking away.

"The battle depends on one factor, as long as I avoid that factor I will win, if I trigger the factor I will die," he said, the factor was Gohan, if he snapped Cell would die. The child had a nearly bottomless pit of power when he went in that state, it was impossible to stop him when he reached that stage; that was why he was going for the boy first. The child didn't care about himself, but he snapped when someone he loved got hurt.

"Then don't go!" She yelled at him now, getting to her feet. "Why must you put yourself in that type of danger again, do you want to die?" She screamed at him and Cell considered he might just have put a bit too much of his energy into her.

He crossed his arms and looked ahead, not looking at her enraged face. "I'm saying goodbye Hina, you should consider rephrasing your words because it might be the last you speak to me," he said and she went white in her face, all anger vanishing from her.

"Goodbye?" She asked quietly, as if the word was foreign to her.

"If I die, I won't be coming back, in that event this is my goodbye to you," he said as he still stared ahead.

Hina stared at him; she could see he was serious. He _was _here to say goodbye. "No!" She yelled at him. "I won't say goodbye to you," she said through gritted teeth as she became angry again, how could he lay that down on her? Come here on her birthday to tell her he _might _die and saying goodbye.

He looked at her and into her angry eyes; they have turned a murky green color, she was humorous when she was angry, but he didn't find the will to laugh at the moment. "How was it when you died?" He asked.

"Painful," she spat out as she looked away from him, her eyes twitching.

"I mean after that, when you reached the check-in counter," he said and she still couldn't look at him, she was fuming inside and he was just casually droning on, like he wasn't planning to _maybe _throw his life away tomorrow.

"I was a cloud of white smoke, it was horrible," she said bitterly and Cell nodded as he looked away from her and over the vegetable garden.

"I'm sorry I killed you back then," he said after a few seconds and her eyes lightened up a bit at his apology.

"You're…sorry?" She questioned, she had never thought she'd hear those words come from his mouth.

"Do not make me repeat myself," he said, but his voice contained no anger. "When I first came to this time, I was blissfully unaware of what you humans call emotions, or at least the 'good' ones. I considered you dispensable and nothing but a way to speed up my evolution. I misused your generosity and kindness to my own advantage and if you hadn't left for that vacation you would've been dead before I even transformed," he said as he looked at her, she seemed confused with his last statement.

"I came back with you to your house because it was my plan to absorb both you and your mother at the point where I was close to transforming, by the time I realized how close I was the two of you were gone, so I instead used the food on the farm to push me to that limit," he said and then looked away from her again, he could see the surprise on her face.

"I killed everyone in the towns surrounding that farm and eventually I came upon you in that supermarket," he said and Hina remembered that well, he had stabbed her with the point of his tail, but why was he telling her all of this?

"Up to that point I had killed everything I could find, it didn't matter whether it was a child or an adult, I didn't care, it was the energy I was after. I was going to take the life of that girl when you ran and covered her. Your energy signature was known to me already, so I knew it was you the second I felt it.

I attacked you, stabbed you in your back and when I started to absorb the energy you told the child to run, at that point I decided I would grant you the chance to preserve your life, but if I ever found you again I would kill you.

You recognized me and I remember thinking the look on your face was priceless. After that I continued to kill, continued to rampage, building up energy until I was ready to transform into the thing you see before you now.

Then I found you again, you actually tried to kill me," Cell recalled with a laugh, but it quickly died away. "At that point I did kill you because I had made that promise to myself, your parting shot unnerved me as I didn't see myself as a friend of yours, though you seemed to think so.

Then came the part where I changed, transformed in both body and mind, in a sense this is perfection, or that is what my creator called it; after that I organized the tournament and I had won.

I killed everyone who came to the tournament, then I gathered up the items required to bring them all back, I wasn't satisfied with the easy win and I was determined to give them the opportunity to better themselves.

In that period of boredom I took the time to claim earth as my own and I eventually started to look at the lives of the people from a bird's eye view, it was foreign to me the way they acted. They would show hatred towards each other and the next second they would _love _each other again, it didn't make sense to me and on some levels it still doesn't," he said and Hina looked at him, listening to him but not understanding why he was telling her any of this. It almost seemed like he was _confessing _his sins to her.

"I eventually went to my creator and asked him why I was unable to comprehend what I saw and he informed me he had not seen it fit to include that in my creation; being the man he was he was unfamiliar with human emotion, he was useless to me. So I set out to the only person I knew wouldn't run at my presence," Cell said as he looked into her eyes. "You,"

"At first you infuriated me, I wanted nothing but to get my answers from you and kill you, it felt like there would be nothing more pleasing than that. You were bold, too bold in my opinion and eventually it cost you your vision," he said and Hina immediately flinched when she recalled that.

"The way you sank into depression was pleasing to me at first, to see you suffer in darkness like that, shambling around helplessly and hopelessly. Soon it got too much, you were unable to lift yourself up emotionally and I decided it had no benefit to me that you remain blind. When I returned your eyesight you were actually thrilled, you _thanked _me. I didn't understand it but I saw life coming back to you and that was what I wanted.

The weeks turned into months and eventually I found myself in your company for two full years and it had come to my realization that I had actually befriended you; your boldness no longer angered me, but instead amused me. I rationalized that the change of 'scenery' was because I knew you and your antics. I didn't fully comprehend how much I started to care until your 22nd birthday.

After that I decided it was time I finished what I had actually planned to do and that was defeat the fighters I had given so much time. Needless to say, I had given them too much time. When that final energy wave came for me and took my arm I thought of a place to go to where I would be safe until I could recover and once again you came to the front of my mind," he said and she went red in her face.

"When I landed there on the ground you treated me like an injured child and I was insulted, even though I knew inwardly that it was just your kindness I didn't want it in any measure, I had been humiliated enough that day.

The next thing I knew you were shaking me awake and I wasn't in the best of moods so I attacked you, grabbed you with the intent of killing you; then you told me they were there to kill me.

I was shocked that you hadn't told them where I was, but instead risked your life by lying to them and trying to save me. When you refused to move I was speechless, you stood up against someone who defeated me, someone you didn't know to keep them away from me.

That's when I decided to take you with when I left; I thought it would be best not to leave you with them after that. After that I left you to your own devices, I went to the cabin and I trained, as you knew I 'borrowed' vegetables from your farm to sustain my energy, but eventually you did find me. I must admit, you looked humorous crawling around under a blanket," he said with a laugh and she looked away as she turned redder.

"I was surprised that you volunteered to make me that pot, I was even more surprised when I agreed.

The next night I'm sure you remember because of the fight," he said and she shook her head.

"I don't remember the fight so well, I do remember the trip you took me on much better," she said and he smiled as he nodded.

"Aah yes, well, I'm here to talk about the fight," he clarified and she just nodded, she didn't want to recall that again.

"My energy ran through your veins and what I felt you felt, I gave you too much energy that is why," he said and she was immediately confused.

"Felt what _you _felt?" She asked.

"Yes, I had a question I wanted to ask you, but I knew it was best if I didn't so I pushed it back; you didn't have that type of restraint so you brought up your question because of my need to ask something. The moment I got angry at you, you returned that anger, I hurt your shoulders and as I left I regretted it and so you came and apologized to me for your actions, that night was not your fault," he said and her eyes widened.

"Then…why didn't you ever come around again?" She asked, she had thought he was furious with her.

"Because I didn't kill you, you gave me every reason to and I didn't, I couldn't, you had been right and I had no desire to let that attachment escalate further so I kept my distance," he said and she gave a slow nod. "When I returned your cauldron I overheard a conversation between you and the man that brought you home," he said and her eyes widened.

"Eric?" She asked and Cell nodded. "Were you standing outside the window or something?" She asked in shock and he shook his head.

"I have good hearing, I was at the barn and when I sensed a male energy inside I thought it might be something malicious so I listened in. I was amused when I found out and I wished you the best because I believe you deserve it," he said and she went red again.

"Why did the man stop coming around? I sensed him daily and then suddenly nothing?" He questioned and she sighed.

"I said no," she said and Cell's eyes widened.

"He asked you to wed him?" Cell asked in disbelief, as far as he knew marriage proposals took a bit longer than a few weeks.

"No," she said shaking her head. "Just to date and so on," she said and Cell was confused.

"Then why did you say no?" He asked and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't want a guy in my life, it complicates things too much," she said and Cell laughed.

"You're not getting any younger, you know that right?" He asked and her eyes narrowed as she put her hands on her hips.

"I'm not old," she said angrily and Cell scoffed.

"Not _yet_, but anyway, that's not what I'm babbling about," he said and she still looked at him angrily at his 'old' comment. "At first I wanted to come ask why, but I decided against it, time passed as I trained and eventually I reached the point where I was sure I would be able to win as long as I didn't 'activate' that 'trigger' I spoke of earlier," he said and then uncrossed his arms.

"I wanted you to know all this before I go, I wanted to say I regret harming and killing you back then, you didn't deserve it, and I wanted you to know that that night wasn't your fault," he said and the anger seeped from her face instantly.

"What did you want to ask me?" She asked suddenly and he stared at her confused.

"How do you mean?"

"That night… you said you wanted to ask something, what was it?" She asked softly and Cell shook his head.

"The question is of no importance," he replied.

"Please, tell me," she asked.

"No," he said stubbornly.

"I won't laugh at you?" She offered and he smirked.

"I'm not worried about your laughter, I'm worried about your answer, that is why I never asked it," he said and the only thing he managed to do was make Hina extremely curious.

"Then I won't answer, just ask me," she pushed and Cell turned to her fully.

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" He asked.

"The 'no' part and a no is just around the corner from a yes," she said sheepishly and Cell shook his head. "Oh c'mon, you can't leave me hanging like that, I need to know," she moaned and Cell laughed at her.

"You don't _need_ to know, you just _want _to know, there's a difference," he said and she huffed as she crossed her arms and turned her back towards him. "Oh now you're just being like a child, stop pouting," he said, but he actually wanted to laugh at her.

"You can't just bring up something like that and then _not _tell me," she spat as she still had her back turned to him.

"Hah, see if I care," he said and she swung around and stared at him, a smirk was on his face and his eyes were glinting, whether it was playfulness or malice she didn't know; though knowing him it was probably the latter.

"It's my birthday, so you have to tell me," she said matter-of-factly and Cell sneered at her request.

"I don't quite think we feel the same way about birthdays," he said and she let out a sigh as she dropped her arms.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" She asked hopelessly and he smirked.

"Now you're catching on," he said with two claps and she glowered at him, so he dropped his hands to his side. "If I win I'll consider telling you," he said.

"When," she said immediately, balling her fists as she stared at him intently.

"Excuse me?" He asked, not sure what she meant, he just told her _when _he was going to tell her.

"When you win, not IF," she corrected and Cell crossed his arms again, staring at her with surprise.

"I don't understand why you want me to win, I'll just enslave the planet again," he said and she shook her head.

"I want you to win because I want you to survive, if it didn't involve your death I'd have felt otherwise," she explained and Cell looked towards the sky as a smile formed on his face.

"What happened to 'your heart is so black you don't deserve to have it.'?" He asked her with a soft laugh.

"It left with the thought of you being a monster, because you're not," she said and he looked back down at her.

"You're the only one on this entire planet that thinks that," he said and she scoffed angrily.

"Screw the rest," she said loudly and Cell immediately snapped his head towards the bedroom window of her mother, he felt her energy rise by a small fraction as she woke up.

He took a few steps back into the shadow lest the mother decide to look out the window. "You woke your mother up," he said softly and Hina clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Don't apologize to me, I was about to leave in any case," he said and she opened her mouth to say something but immediately she heard her mother speak from the kitchen.

"Hina, honey, where are you?" Jasmine asked and Hina snapped her head towards the backdoor and then towards Cell.

"Hold on one sec, don't go," she said and then bolted into the house.

"Oh, there you are, I thought I heard voices," Jasmine said as she let out a yawn.

"No, I'm fine mom, just enjoying the stars and talking to myself, you know, the usual," she said and her mother let out another yawn, her eyes were bloodshot from her alcohol consumption.

"Well, okay, goodnight then," Jasmine said as she turned on her heel and returned to the bedroom.

When her mother was out of sight Hina ran back outside, but her heart sank immediately: Cell was gone.

**x.X.x**

**Please tell me what you thought.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Aaaw, thanks for the reviews guys ^^**

**FoxyAlterEgos : Holy moo cows? Hehe, reminds me of the secret cow level in the game called Diablo – BTW to everyone. Release date for the 3****rd**** installment is 15****th**** of May. I will NOT be visible for at least 2 months. I'll be nerding out :P **

**F U C K E R: Firstly – interesting nick. Secondly, thanks for the review :P **

**Bulma: Wow, that's a giant compliment coming from you – I've seen your list of favorite stories, so THANKS. :D Well, 14 stories, but heh, GIANT compliment. So thank you very much ^^**

**Cupcakes and tea: Same for your compliment. I'm really happy you guys like it, so far I've not received one negative word (And now guys, that's not a challenge), so thanks :D**

**Well, here's the next chapter. Please R & R**

**ATTENTION READERS: This chapter has a lot to do with Cell's self awareness and I want comments dammit! I want to know if it makes sense. If you think I'm trying to fish for reviews, I'm not. You're welcome to PM me if you prefer. I just want to know if I did it alright. Screw reviews; just tell me what you thought of it. **

x.X.x

Cell floated far above and saw as Hina ran outside again, she looked around frantically and even looked up, but she couldn't see him, he made sure of that. "Why did you kiss me back?" He whispered, he wanted to ask her, but regardless of what the answer would be, he wouldn't like it. He knew his own reasons, but he did not know hers; intoxication seemed like a proper answer, but you didn't confuse a monster with a man that easily.

He saw her shamble back instead, her head low and once she was inside he took off; the sun was rising in about 5 hours and that was when he would go to Goku, in the meantime he would need to find a serene place to meditate.

x.X.x

(Five hours later)

Hina sat on her bed, wide awake but also exhausted as Hell. She couldn't sleep, doesn't matter how hard she tried she couldn't fall asleep. She had counted to a thousand sheep, put on soothing music, even drank sleeping pills but her brain was unwilling to shut off.

She was worried, that was the only way to explain it. Worried that he was going to die, she never even got to say goodbye properly.

How do you say goodbye to someone who was possibly going to die? How do you say goodbye when you suspect it might be forever?

She didn't understand why he wouldn't just surrender, why he had to be so stubborn.

x.X.x

Cell was standing in front of Goku's house and he was utterly surprised that only the child was home, the father wasn't there.

"I thought you were gone," Gohan said angrily, but Cell could sense it wasn't the same type of anger; the child didn't have that strength right now, which made Cell much stronger than he was. He didn't have a lot of time to work with either; Goku would soon come to the rescue of his child.

"You guessed wrong," Cell said as he went into fighting position. "Now come child, it's time for our rematch," he said and Gohan immediately powered up into Super-Saiyan and charged Cell. 'Too slow,' Cell thought as he attacked.

x.X.x

It didn't take long for Cell to get Gohan into a hold; he had his arms around the body of Gohan as he started to crush him, the child was worthless when he wasn't in a rage. He could kill the child immediately and he would in a moment, but it felt _right _inflicting pain on him, making him fear, it was as if he was repaying a debt.

As he was still busy the house door opened and he watched the black-headed wife of Goku run from it. "Let go of my son!" She screamed at Cell, he knew she had been inside the whole time, watching, but Gohan had obviously warned her to stay inside.

"Get away," Cell said, but instead she started throwing punches at him. He watched her as she did so, there was no pain and she must've known that. Killing her would be as easy as flicking her away with his energy, but the death of her could trigger Gohan.

"Gohan!" Cell suddenly heard from above, he snapped his head up to see Goku falling to the ground.

'Just great,' Cell thought sarcastically. He let go of the boy and he fell to the ground, it was no use trying to kill him now, he would firstly need to put Goku out of order before he could dispose of the child.

"Chi-Chi, go inside!" Goku yelled as he pulled his attacking wife away from Cell, but she was riled up and pushed out of his hold.

"No, he hurt my baby!" She yelled as she threw a punch at Cell but Cell moved out of the way and she instead ended up landing on her face. Goku ran to her and immediately dragged her back inside the house before running back towards Gohan.

"What are you doing?" Goku yelled and Cell smirked.

"You didn't think I fled, did you?" He asked and Goku gritted his teeth as he looked at Cell. "You really did?" Cell asked with a laugh.

"You're stronger," Goku said and Cell smirked as he crossed his arms.

"So glad you noticed," he said and then he scowled as his eyes darkened. "I will not have a repeat of last time," he said and then charged Goku.

x.X.x

"How do you do it!" Cell yelled as he got up, cuts and bruises covering his body. "How do you manage to continue to strengthen yourself so much!" He screamed at Goku, it was unbelievable; Goku was stronger than Gohan when he was in the rage, he had grown to such an insane level that Cell didn't understand it.

"It's not about how, it is why!" Goku yelled as he wiped a trail of blood that was escaping the side of his mouth.

"Why then! Tell me why!" He screamed, Goku had been _nothing _when he first fought him, absolutely nothing and yet less than four years later he was so powerful it was hard to comprehend that he used to be a pushover. It was no wonder Dr. Gero was eternally obsessed with killing him.

"Because if I die everyone will die!" He yelled as he powered up. "Everyone I love is depending on me! And I won't make the mistake of letting my son fight for me again! And I won't let them down!" He screamed as he charged Cell.

Cell flipped out of the way as he watched Goku go into a rage of his own. He had not calculated for this, he had worried about the child alone and not the father. He should've been more concerned about Goku; he should've followed the advice programmed into him by Dr. Gero.

All he could do now is fight and hope he did exceed Goku, he had trained long for this and he wouldn't give up without a fight; whether it killed him or not.

x.X.x

(One hour later)

Cell grunted as he got up after being knocked down for the hundredth time; he looked at Goku; he was tired and panting but something was holding him up, something was giving him energy he no longer had.

Their power was equally matched, but Goku had something else, something more, something Cell was missing.

'Good thing I had said goodbye,' Cell thought morbidly, he wasn't sure how this was going to end, but if there was one thing he wasn't going to do it was run again. If Goku defeated him now he did so fair and square, then he had the right to keep his planet.

"This ends now!" Goku yelled as he charged Cell.

x.X.x

"Jesus," Cell said in horror as he stared at Goku, his hair had grown until his knees and it stood like a thousand golden spikes weaved over each other. Cell had absolutely no idea what he was seeing, but the power increase Goku got when he transformed into _that _was insane. They were no longer equal in strength, Goku had exceeded him.

"I didn't think I'd have to use this against you, it's supposed to be a secret," he said and Cell was still staring at him with wide-eyes.

"Don't you think that's a bit of a big skeleton to try and hide in your closet?" Cell asked, he was at least happy about one thing. Vegeta would most probably hang himself when he saw this transformation, it was a comforting thought.

"Just give up Cell, you can't win," he said and Cell gritted his teeth angrily.

"I will never surrender," he said bitterly, though he couldn't argue with Goku's logic, he couldn't win. He didn't know how long Goku would be able to sustain his new transformation, but with that type of power he didn't need long.

He had a last resort and that was to self-destruct, to make all his energy implode. It would kill Goku and destroy the planet, taking everything with him. He could do that and under normal circumstances he would've; but there was someone on the planet he wasn't going to kill twice.

He bit his inner lip angrily, he was about to die and he was thinking of her? What type of sense did that make? He closed his eyes and shook his head, but her face remained plastered to his memory.

"Why must your type always be so arrogant!" Goku yelled, he hated killing someone, even a monster like Cell.

Cell opened his eyes as he stared at Goku in bemusement. "Why must you always be so eager to give second chances? I gave you one and it did me no good," he said and Goku growled, blue sparks spat from him like embers from a fire.

"There's a difference, you will never be stronger than me because I _want _to defend the planet from the wrath of you and everyone like you, your kind don't feel anything for the things you destroy!" Goku yelled, but then he calmed himself. "Though I do believe that everyone is capable of redemption, look at Vegeta for example," Goku said seriously and Cell spat out some blood that had pooled in his mouth; he wouldn't waste energy with regeneration at the moment.

Goku was right though, Vegeta was a prime example of how evil could go good, or as good as possible. Vegeta had, according to his data, been a Saiyan space fighter and was also the prince of his race. Goku had defeated him when he came to attack earth and had let him go, only to meet up with him in Namek and eventually he had gone to earth and fornicated with a human female. The end result of that activity was Trunks, a half-bred Saiyan that was even stronger than his father at the moment.

Vegeta wanted to destroy the planet and now he was fighting to defend it, in a constant power-struggle with Goku and he supposed that was what kept on making him stronger, the desire to get better than Goku.

'He has something to fight for,' Cell said inwardly and he mentally calculated what he had to fight for and the end result of that calculation was nothing. He was just designed to destroy with no reason and no goal. He didn't like believing that he was weaker because he lacked a reason, but it was the truth.

Goku became stronger to defend his planet, Vegeta became stronger to surpass Goku, and Trunks became stronger to gain the respect of his father. Everyone had a reason except him. Cell let out a laugh, it was no wonder he was unable to keep up with Goku, he didn't have anything. Nothing was at stake except his life; his 'home' wasn't going to be destroyed if he lost, nothing 'bad' was going to happen if he died.

Actually, only good will happen if he did, the people would be at ease, Goku would be relaxed, his wife would be happy, Gohan would be overjoyed. No one would care that he was gone.

A sense of worthlessness sank into Cell as he stared at Goku intently; he was but one man and he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Cell couldn't begin to comprehend that, he didn't have any baggage, if he lost he lost nothing, no one was in danger; the only thing that could ever weigh down on him was his conscious.

How did it feel to carry the lives of everyone in your hands? To feel responsible for so many people? Was that why he pushed himself like this, to prevent any more deaths, to stop anyone on the planet from dying by the hands of evil?

Cell suddenly started to laugh as it sank into him – he was dead. He couldn't hold a flag up to this man when it came to a reason to fight.

"Why are you laughing?" Goku asked.

"No reason," Cell said briskly.

"What are you planning?" Goku asked as he went into fighting position and Cell watched him, a smile on his face.

"Must everyone always think I have a trick up my sleeve?" Cell asked in annoyance and Goku gave no reply. "I can't defeat you Goku," Cell said seriously and Goku's mouth parted slightly at the confession.

"What are you saying?"

"Exactly like what it sounds, but I'm not going to give up either, if I'm going to die, I'm going to die fighting," he said and Goku scowled.

"You're a fool! You're throwing your life away!" Goku scolded and Cell crossed his arms.

"Stop your lecture and get on with it," he said and Goku growled angrily before giving a nod, charging at Cell.

x.X.x

Cell sat a few feet into a cliff, Goku had, for a lack of a better word, beat him into it. He looked at the dark surrounding of the new man-made cavern and sighed. The girl had been right, he was stubborn. Goku had given him the opportunity to give up and live, but he had chosen death over surrendering – he was sure that stubbornness was due to the Saiyan cells in his body.

If he surrendered he would be able to train again, he had seen Goku's power now and he understood it and he could work towards surpassing it. "Dammit, I can't," he said to himself, he couldn't give up; he didn't have the capability, it felt impossible to utter those words.

"Damn you Gero, this isn't perfection, it's arrogance," he said to himself, how could he be perfect if he was losing? He looked towards the light entering the cavern from outside; he wondered why Goku hadn't blasted the cliff yet to get him out, but knowing Goku he was patiently waiting outside for him to return.

"Well…can't be late for my own funeral," he said with a laugh as he powered up and blasted straight up through the cliff to get to the outside.

**x.X.x**

**Fight continues in the next chapter. **

**And remember. I want to know how this chapter was in the sense of Cell's awareness to his weakness. I tried to portray it as something that didn't come as a sudden shock, but instead a collected awareness. **


	20. Chapter 20

**Diablo 3 finally came out, so that is why I've been…forgetting…to upload. Yes, this time you can really blame the devil. Or Blizzard if you prefer…or me if you want to be technical.**

**After seeing a few reviews I got sparked to update again :D Sorry for the looooong wait. Here is the next chapter. As for my lovely reviewers…**

**F -ER(): Your kind words of starvation had me in tears from laughing. This is the first review I read when I came back and it is the one that made me read the rest. Here my friend. EAT MY WORDS!**

**Emerald Elyon: Unfortunately Cell is what most would describe as extremely stubborn and prone to stubborn acts and he considers himself evil, as well as giving up isn't hardcoded in his system. Probably because he has Vegeta and Goku in there. I know the update was long and I'm sorry, I really really am. As for the way this chapter will turn out. There is a reason for everything and there is a solution to everything.**

**Bondary Dhenurn: Thank you for the review and your wish may or may not be granted; either way, you'll find out in this chapter.**

**Lancelot-Albion: Yup, Goku has hax0r powers. He tends to be overpowered, like that one class in a game everyone hates because it's the best and they don't like it, but are forced to play it to match up with the rest. . Sorry, have Diablo on the brain. **

**Aquasage: Thank you for a review once again. And yeah, I thought it'd be a nice twist for him to advance in power earlier since the story is no longer progressing the way it did in the actual series. And yeah, Vegeta's 'expression' comes into later chapters, and he is peeved. **

**xxSpreadYourWingsxx: Thank you for the kind review, and yes, that which you mentioned is actually in later chapters. I did try not to hide the evil side of him, mostly because I like it and he's not some love-sick puppy that runs after the first human who happens to look his way. He's a evil badass.**

**I know I forgot some reviewers and I'm sorry and would like to thank you for reviewing :D**

**Enjoy…I really hope you enjoy this chapter considering the contents :/**

**x.X.x**

(Twenty Minutes Later)

"Damn you," Cell said as he looked at his severed arm, his gray flesh spilling from the wound. "You're toying with me!" Cell yelled angrily, Goku could've killed him long ago, but he chose to drag it along.

"Why aren't you serious about this!" Goku yelled as he powered down suddenly, receding back to his black hair and Cell thought, for a second, that he had lost his energy; but that was not it.

"Are you mocking me now!" Cell yelled as he dragged himself to his feet, what was Goku planning?

"You can't fight anymore, just give up!" Goku persisted and Cell's eyes instantly darkened at the suggestion.

"Let's see how sure you are of that!" Cell yelled as he held his hand out towards the residence of Goku, the only one who would die from the blast was his wife and the furniture, but Goku was immediately alert.

"What are you doing?" He yelled.

"Stop toying with me!" Cell screamed angrily. "Kill me if you see the opportunity, I'm not your pet!" He fumed as he formed a large ball of energy in the palm of his hand. "KILL ME!" He yelled as he charged the ball up further.

Goku stared at Cell in horror, what was going on with him? He was going insane, it was fitting for his kind, but why wasn't he threatening the planet? Why wasn't he threatening to blow it up like Frieza and all the others did? He was _timid _compared to his previous performance.

"KILL ME!" Cell screamed again.

x.X.x

Hina felt her heart pull in forty different directions suddenly; she grabbed her chest and groaned so hard that it alerted her mother.

"What's wrong!" Jasmine yelled as she ran into the room.

"GO AWAY!" Hina yelled towards her mother in panic, unsure of where the pain was coming from. "Leave me alone!" she screamed softer and Jasmine immediately left the room, shutting the door.

Hina continued to clutch her chest; it felt like it was tearing. Tears escaped her eyes seconds later, falling onto her arms as she still clutched her throbbing heart.

"What…" she whispered and her eyes widened slightly as she got a flash of something she didn't want to understand. She saw Cell, down on the ground and in pieces, _dead_.

The tears that escaped her a second later didn't feel like her own, but she knew it was.

"YOU BASTARD!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "HOW DARE YOU DIE!" She continued and then sunk down into a pit of depression. It had been an 'if' and not a 'when.

x.X.x

Jasmine stood outside the door and heard her daughter yell like that, as if she was addressing a faceless phantom. "Hina…" she whispered, who was dead? Was it Eric?

The next second the door shot open and Hina bolted from it, ignoring her mother as she ran out of the front door in her pajamas.

Something tugged at her heart, something that _told _her he wasn't dead yet. She didn't know where he was, but she had saved him once, she would do it again.

"Don't you dare die! You haven't asked me that question yet!" She screamed lamely, but her attempts were only to mask her own tears.

x.X.x

Cell shot down on the ground, he felt his ligaments tearing with the energy rings Goku shot at him. "Give up!" Goku yelled and Cell grunted as he burst the energy entrapping him. As he fought against Goku he got stronger and it surprised him; he was learning more by fighting against this man than he did in over a year of training.

"Hah! Like you'll ever actually go through with that!" Cell yelled as he shot up and punched Goku through the face, one of his arms were missing and blood was trailing from almost every pore in his body but he didn't believe in giving up. 'Damn you girl,' he thought, self destructing would've been so easy but he _couldn't_. It was the same type of force that stopped him from surrendering. Pride. He _couldn't _cause her death again.

"If you surrender the only requirement from you would be to leave the planet and never return!" Goku yelled as he got to his feet, Cell was keeping himself upright even when he was beaten down far worse than ever before and Goku wondered why.

"Do you honestly think anyone who wants to destroy the planet would abide by that! You're a fool!" Cell yelled as he charged up a blast and Goku started charging one up as well.

"Then die!" Goku yelled as he fired the blast and Cell fired his own, he knew it was inferior but he would not give up, he had the cells of Goku, Gohan and Vegeta in his body, if they could unleash unknown power, then so could he!

x.X.x

Hina ran until her feet was scathed and sore, but she couldn't find him, she couldn't see him, but she was close enough that the ground was shaking around her and her heart beat faster. If they were still fighting it meant he was alive.

"Where are you!" She screamed in the air.

x.X.x

'Where are you!' Cell heard from a distance away and he snapped his face in that direction as he was busy fighting Goku's blast. The voice could not be mistaken, it was Hina and she was close by, close enough that he could hear her without really concentrating.

'Close enough that the aftershock of this blast would kill her,' he thought, he had seen Gohan remove his mother from the house minutes before, saving her from any damage. They were in a remote area so no one else was meant to be in danger.

But somehow the female had found him and if he continued with the power struggle she would die, the power would explode in the middle and send everything in the nearby vicinity to oblivion and that included her.

Cell put his attention back at Goku, he was fighting the blast, but not with everything he had, he was fighting it with what he deemed to be fair, how could he be so righteous?

Cell looked back towards the place he had heard Hina's voice and he saw a flash of raven hair streaking through the foliage, she was close and that was bad; it was never his wish to get her involved in the battle.

"You win," Cell said as he released his blast and opened his arms, allowing the energy blast to hit him full force. It was that or something else he promised not to do again. He felt himself being shot into the far distance as his body started to dissolve before his eyes.

It was painful, but somehow comforting.

x.X.x

"Cell!" Hina yelled as she saw his body melt away before her eyes, the man firing the blast looked towards her immediately, but Cell didn't, it was as if he couldn't hear her. "Let him go!" She yelled towards the man dressed in red.

Goku stared the female in confusion, he recognized her as the woman who had helped Cell escape the first time, but why was she here now? Goku looked towards Cell as he saw he paid no heed to her. Why was the girl demanding he let him go? Was there something more to the picture?

He looked back towards her and saw her panicked face, why was she so volatile? He was releasing the world from the grip of Cell forever.

"LET HIM GO!" Hina screamed at the top of her lungs when the man didn't stop his blast, instead it kept on pushing Cell back, stripping him of his flesh, bone and skin as the blast continued to grow in power. "HE'S NOT A MONSTER, PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM!" She screamed in hopelessness.

x.X.x

Cell stared when he heard her voice and sure as god, she was standing there; staring and screaming at Goku. He thought she was perhaps telling Goku to continue, urging him on, but the second her real words penetrated his mind it was already too late.

Hina threw her hands over her mouth as she saw the blue blast of the pointy haired man envelop Cell. Before she could give any other reaction the blast exploded and sent out a wave so strong it knocked her clean off her feet.

Goku watched as the girl flew back a few feet, her head snapping against a rock loudly before she passed out. Goku immediately went down to her and picked her up and then looked up at the place Cell used to be.

He couldn't feel his energy or see any trace of him, but considering what happened last time, there was a chance he was still alive, though it would take a few minutes for him to regenerate if he was.

He looked back down at the girl, there was blood dripping from her skull but she was still alive. The only revelation would be to take her to Dende so that he could heal the damage since it was his fault she got hurt with the blast aftermath. He wondered what she meant when she defended Cell verbally, she had also defended Cell long ago.

He would have to ask her once she regained consciousness, but for now he just had to take her to Dende and then return to see if Cell was truly dead, villains were like cockroaches, the second you thought they were gone, they appeared again.

x.X.x

Goku had dropped the girl off at Dende and was now back at the 'arena', he had waited and waited, but it was obvious Cell was dead; it seemed unreal that he was finally gone, but there was one thing that bothered him.

He didn't understand why Cell threw the blast at the end, he still had power left and he just gave up and _died_. Even if he knew he could've killed Cell easily in that transformation it wasn't in Cell's personality to just _give up_.

"Why did you do that?" Goku asked the empty skies, he was glad Cell was finally gone, it meant they could finally have peace on earth and live happily, but he couldn't help but feel like he did something _wrong_.

x.X.x

"Oh just get on with it!" Cell yelled at Yemma as he was busy reading off the names of all the people he had killed. "I'm fairly well aware of what I've done," he snapped, he knew he was weak in this world, it was almost impossible to defeat anything here; his power was cut so much that this big red bastard would be able to squash him. It infuriated him, but at least Hina was safe.

'Blasted female,' he thought bitterly.

"You'll spend the rest of eternity in H.F.I.L then," Yemma said as he brought up his big wooden mallet.

"Very well," Cell said and the next second he was shoved down into a world he had never encountered before.

x.X.x

(Few hours later)

Hina opened her eyes and when she found herself in a big white room she considered everything to be nothing but a bad dream; until she saw a little green man standing there.

"Hello," Dende said and she shot up and off the bed, going to stand by the wall.

"Who are you!" She screamed and a second later she saw a man dressed in red enter, he looked like the man with the long blonde hair, except his hair was black and shorter.

"Hello," he greeted and she was unnerved by his casual tone, he seemed so _friendly _and _happy_, but where was Cell?

"Who are you?" She repeated as she relaxed a bit, they didn't seem violent.

"I'm Goku," Goku said and then looked towards Dende. "This is Dende, he healed you," Goku continued and she scowled.

"Where's Cell?" She asked after a few seconds.

"Cell…" Goku said with a laugh. "Well…he's dead…" He said and Hina's eyes widened, she felt her mind getting the information, but it was as if it couldn't process it.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, you were there, I fought him," he said and she realized he _was _the man with the long hair, why or how he had short hair now didn't bother her, all she knew and cared about was that he was the one that killed Cell.

"You bastard!" She screamed as she lunged herself at him, but he grabbed her wrists and held her back gently and soon she felt tears stinging at her eyes. "How dare you!" She continued.

Goku didn't know what to think of her reaction, so he said the only thing that came to mind. "Did you…know him?" He asked and she cried harder.

"Yes…" She said after a minute. "Yes… I did…" She whimpered and Goku's eyes widened a bit, he had considered it, but to actually have it confirmed?

"How do you mean?" He asked and she shook her head angrily as tears flew from her eyes. "Please, tell me," Goku said after a few seconds and she snapped her head towards him now.

"He was not a monster you bastard!" She screamed at him as she pushed him away from her. "He was not a monster!" She continued and then shook her head. "I…I…" She fell down on the ground and started to cry again.

Goku looked at her, had Cell had some sort of human relationship with her? Had he actually befriended a human?

Goku's eyes suddenly widened, the second she had come into the scene he had thrown the blast; he had given up the second her life had been in danger and in turn sacrificed his own. 'No way…' he thought, but all the evidence pointed in that direction, it made sense, but why would Cell care about the life of another?

"Can I take you home?" Goku asked eventually and she looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed as she still cried.

"I'm sure you feel great about what you've done," she said bitterly and Goku didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet. "But you shouldn't, he was not a monster, he was not evil!" She yelled now and Goku put his hand on her shoulder. There was nothing he could do about the death of Cell, but he could take her home.

"Let me take you home, tell me where," Goku said and she looked down and eventually she told him.

**x.X.x**

**Well...he is dead. Sorry about that. But we all know death is never permanent in Dragonball Z. Or is it? Kidding, the story wouldn't have another chapter if there wasn't some way to rescue it was from. I couldn't let him live; he was not one to give up and I couldn't change that about him just to let him live. Yes..he did throw the blast at the end, but that is different.**

**Please review~**


	21. Chapter 21

**Wow! I got quite the influx of reviews for the last chapter. Thank you guys :D **

**Well, here are my replies to the reviews. Pretty sure I managed to include everyone ^^**

**Bulma3678: **Of course there's another chapter. The story doesn't end like that…actually…I have no idea how the story ends, I haven't written that far, but when I know, you'll know. :D

**DarkMagicianMidget**: From a Dragon Ball Z point of view dead is not really dead. There's the other world, there's the dragonballs… But yes…for all intent and purposes he kicked the bucket. But hey…this is where the story gets interesting. Or at least in my mind it did :D

And lol, the part about Cell Juniors. You said "GOKU CELL". I suppose you meant 'Go Cell!. Hehehehe, made me laugh. Cause then me, myself and my slightly crazy mind imagined Goku and Cell fighting over who is going to 'give' her juniors.

**chaos in the sky**: Thank you for the review and glad you like the story so far ^^ I'll try to keep it awesome, but no promises. Well hey… I killed Cell and people still think it's awesome so I must be doing something right.

**Zerousy: **Oh trust me…he died for a reason. The story, at least from my point of view, should get more interesting now. Thank you for the review :D

**F-K(): **I can't type your whole name or they blank it out completely, apparently it's a 'bad' word or whatever. But anyway, that aside, thank you for the review. Hope you like this chapter :D

**Cupcakes and Tea: **Thank you for the continued reviews, really appreciate it. And see, I didn't make you wait long :P Hope you like the chapter.

**My story might change a bit to a sadder side for two reasons.**

**I did actually lose my sister when I was younger, however, I was 13 and she was 8 at the time and I didn't know her well as she didn't live with me and my other sister. **

**The second reason is that recently my mother's brother's wife died and due to this I have a much clearer view on how it is to lose someone you love, or see someone who has lost someone they loved. Feel free to extend your prayers to him and their son. **

**Well…without further ado. Here's the next chapter Please read and review. This is a bit of a sappy chapter, so forgive me and flame me if you must.**

**Also, time will pass quicker now. But you probably already know how I love to skip weeks at a time in a story. **

**x.X.x**

Cell was in H.F.I.L, he was sitting in the prison cell and in it was all the other 'bad guys' Goku had defeated, he found them to be absolutely no company. All they could talk about was Goku's faults and his weaknesses, of which one was his love for his family.

But Cell saw it differently, Goku had a lot going for him, it was only natural he had the desire to defend it. At that point Cell considered what it would be like to have a family of his own.

He imagined it would involve a female and eventually they would fornicate to create a child and that child would be his. He ran the scenario over in his head a thousand times but the only female he found worthy of that was Hina; the mother of his child would be her if he ever chose that path.

She was too soft to raise a child properly, but if he was there he could change that. He grunted as he realized the direction of his thought, why was he thinking this? "Do I… love her?" He asked himself aloud, gaining the interest of everyone else in the cell, but he didn't care about them.

It bothered him more that he considered loving her, he didn't know what love was, but if he was attached to something, it was her. He didn't even want to destroy the planet because she was on it. He could've won if he destroyed himself, but he didn't because she was on the planet, he didn't want to kill her again.

"Damn you," he said and then started to pace the cell, if only she knew what she was doing to him.

x.X.x

Hina was back at her house and in her room; she had shoved her mother aside because she wanted to be on her own, she couldn't handle being analyzed now and perhaps her rudeness would give her some time to absorb everything.

Cell was gone, he was gone, dead, and she was alone once again. She had always been alone, even when he wasn't around, but now she truly felt alone. She had spent so much time with him that she couldn't imagine her life when he was gone and now he was.

This was her sister all over again and even though she knew she got through that she couldn't handle the thought of going into that dark pit again.

How could she possibly deal with that? It was worse thinking that he was also the bad guy, that he wanted to destroy the planet and everything on it, but she saw another side of him; even if she was the only one to ever see it, she knew it was there.

She pulled her knees up to her chin and rested her head on them as she went into thought about how to deal with this, how to deal with the loss of a…"Loved one?" She questioned and then shook her head at the thought.

It was silly to think she had grown that fond of him, but whatever she truly felt for him was enough to make her want to curl up into a ball and cry herself to sleep. She let out a long sigh and suddenly lifted her head up. "Those items…" She whispered to herself, hadn't Cell used items to bring everyone back? That big red guy called Yemma had also spoken about the items; if she could find them she could bring him back.

After a few seconds she sighed and dropped her head back down on her knees, it would be impossible, that man, Goku, and his 'friends' probably had the items and weren't going to be very keen about bringing back the very thing they destroyed.

She wondered whether he was just a floating cloud like she had been, she could imagine he wouldn't take that very well. The thought made her laugh for a split second; if he was a cloud right now he would be jumping up and down out of anger; something that would look extremely funny.

The thought of his laughter, albeit cruel mostly, sent her back into depression.

She sighed as she looked around the room idly now, what was she going to do now? The answer was blatantly obvious as she hadn't exactly worked her life around Cell before, but the answer didn't appease her. She didn't even know why she was feeling empty; everything human and rational about her told her it was a good thing that he was gone.

'Just forget about him,' she said in her mind as she got off the bed and tried to find the will to 'start her day'.

x.X.x

(**Meanwhile in H.F.I.L)**

"How many times must I tell you this?" Cell asked in annoyance as Frieza asked him for the hundredth time whether he was going to 'help' them execute their escape plan.

"I just don't understand why? You want to get free; you want to get revenge on Goku, don't you?" He asked and Cell grumbled to himself.

"Of course I want to get free, but trying to go and kill Goku again won't work," Cell said angrily and then smirked. "Besides, you'll be nothing but a distraction to him; you're not even worth his time now that he ascended even further," Cell sneered and Frieza scowled angrily.

"Why you little brat!" He spat out and Cell immediately punched Frieza square in the face, sending him crashing against the wall, everyone looked at Cell angrily, but none dared to even try and take him on. He was stronger than all of them combined and they knew that.

"Watch your tongue lizard," Cell said and then walked to sit down against the opposite wall, there was no point in getting free from the prison as they couldn't just 'magically' come alive again.

x.X.x

(Few Weeks Later)

"Hey Vegeta," Goku said as he was leaning against one of the pillars on the lookout, Vegeta scowled deeply as he looked towards Goku.

"I'm still not talking to you Kakarot," he said and Goku gave a quick nervous laugh, Vegeta had been avoiding and eyeing him like he was the plague since he found out about the 'Super-Saiyan 3'.

"Oh c'mon, don't be like that," Goku said and Vegeta scowled as he turned away from Goku angrily.

"Oh just spit it out then," Vegeta growled out and Goku smiled brightly. 

"Well… it's about that girl," Goku said and Vegeta scowled.

"That infernal tramp that allowed Cell to escape?" He asked and Goku nodded. "What about her?"

"Well, you see, I was wondering, you and Bulma, how did that happen?" He asked, it was something he was always curious about, but was a bit nervous to ask Vegeta about it; but now he had a reason he could use as a crutch.

"Excuse me?" Vegeta asked as he turned back to Goku, shock riddled his face.

"Well, I think Cell and the girl were…friends. I was just wondering how you and Bulma got close, since you were still hell-bent on destruction when you came here," he said and Vegeta scowled deeply.

"It was an accident, I feel nothing for the woman," he said and Goku knew that wasn't true, but Vegeta wasn't going to change his tune easily.

"Fine… I'll just ask her then," he said and Vegeta's eyes immediately widened.

"Don't you dare!" He yelled and Goku grinned. "Oh… I see how this is!" Vegeta yelled. "Very well Kakarot," he spat out and Goku continued to grin. "I was forced to be associated with the woman often due to the GR training, one thing led to another and I really don't feel comfortable telling you any of this," he said bitterly and Goku started to laugh when he saw Vegeta's cheeks redden.

After a few seconds of laughter he stopped and turned serious. "Do you think Cell could've cared for the girl?" He asked and Vegeta shrugged his shoulders.

"How should I know? Why do you even care? You killed him, with your…" Vegeta grumbled angrily as he recalled the power Goku had obtained, the mere thought set his blood on fire with anger.

"Well… when we were having that power-struggle…Cell threw the blast and gave up; it was right after the girl was close enough to get hurt by the energy," he said and Vegeta's eyes widened for a second, but then narrowed.

"You're just seeing things Kakarot, something like Cell doesn't have the capacity to care," he said and Goku sighed.

"You were like that once," Goku argued.

"I told you I don't care for the woman, stop assuming I do," he said and Goku smiled, regardless of what Vegeta said he knew he cared about Bulma.

x.X.x

Hina sat at the table with her mother, picking at her salad with a fork; she wasn't hungry, since Cell's death she barely found the desire to stand up in the morning. She had rarely seen him when he was still alive, but at least then she knew he was still alive; now he was _dead_. She felt tears stinging at her eyes but immediately swallowed hard to stop them.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" Jasmine asked as she put down her fork, her daughter had been a ghost of herself since a few weeks ago; it was almost like she was reliving the death of Jade and it scared Jasmine.

"Because…you won't understand," Hina said as she got up. "I'll eat later," she said and then walked towards the backdoor. She had been putting it off, but she wanted to go to the cabin where she assumed Cell had stayed.

Jasmine watched as she left and sighed, putting down her fork; she had lost her appetite to eat as well at the moment, she wished she knew what was bothering Hina, if she knew she might be able to help.

But she refused to open up or reveal what was wrong, exactly like it was with Jade. Instead she just slowly darkened and Jasmine didn't want her to have another scar like that on her soul.

x.X.x

Hina arrived at the Cabin an hour later, she had ran most of the way to make good time; she didn't want to return home when it was dark out.

She walked towards the back of the cabin and immediately she knew this was the place where Cell had trained; the ground was cracked and small craters littered the ground, some of the trees were snapped while others were just _gone_.

She took in a deep breath as she felt her heart sink to her feet, he had trained so hard and he still died. He suspected it was going to happen, that is why he had said 'goodbye' to her. She felt the tears coming to her eyes again, but this time she didn't bother to stop them.

Why hadn't she taken him seriously and actually said goodbye? She had refused to say that because she had believed he would win and now he was gone and she had never said goodbye.

She walked towards the cabin and opened the door, not surprised to find it unlocked; Cell didn't exactly need to worry about locking the door since a robber would be nothing but an annoyance to him.

He had been so powerful and yet he had died.

She looked around the place and found it devoid of anything that might've belonged to Cell; the only things in the cabin were that of the person who lived here previously.

It was a mistake to have come, there was no reason to come at all; all it did was make her feel closer to someone that was dead and that wasn't good. He was gone and he wasn't coming back.

It also made her angry, she was angry at him; he could've surrendered and given up, he could've _still _been alive if he hadn't been so stubborn. "It's your fault," she said bitterly and then ran out of the cabin and back towards her house.

It was his fault and it was Goku's fault and it was her fault!

She should've begged him not to go; she should've found a way to stop him!

x.X.x

(Eight months later)

Cell was sitting against the wall, like he usually did, when he saw a short old woman with pink hair dressed in black witch clothes stop in front of the cell, she was floating on a giant crystal ball. Cell had some vague data about her in his cells, as far as he knew her name was Baba.

Everyone stopped with their activities and looked towards her, but Cell had already lost his interest. "Is it that time again?" King Cold asked excitably and Baba gave a nod as she got off the ball and pushed it closer to the cell, so that it was right in front of the prison bars.

"What time?" Cell asked since he had never heard or seen anything like this before and why was Frieza's father excited about it? He looked around more and suddenly saw everyone was relatively excited about the presence of the old witch.

Baba looked towards Cell. "Oh right, I heard you were here as well Cell," she said and then continued. "King Yemma believes in a bit of gratuity for your kind, I'm completely against it, but somehow he thinks you deserve this,"

"Deserve _what _exactly?" Cell asked in confusion.

"You'll see," Baba said and then looked towards the oldest inhabitant of the cell. "Raditz," she greeted and he stepped forward, a smirk on his face.

"Show me Vegeta," he said and she rolled her eyes.

"Again? Really?" She asked and Raditz growled at her. "Fine, fine, but you all always ask to see the same thing," she said with a sigh and Cell's eyes widened as he got to his feet, he ran forward and looked at the giant ball as she started to mutter in a strange language.

A few seconds later Vegeta's face popped onto the ball as if it was a television; he was busy training in the gravity chamber and Raditz scowled.

"He's gotten pathetic, living on earth," he said angrily and Cell snorted.

"Stop being such a baby, you're the one that's dead, not him," he said and Raditz balled his fists angrily and Baba started to laugh; even if she didn't like lending favors to the convicts, sometimes they were funny.

"Nappa, do you also just want to stare at Vegeta or do you actually have another request?" She asked and Nappa shrugged his shoulders lazily.

"I'm good," he commented and Baba rolled her eyes as she kept the image of Vegeta longer.

x.X.x

A few minutes later everyone, except Cell, had their turn. Frieza wanted to see Goku, King Cold wanted to see Cooler and the Ginyu force wanted to see Captain Ginyu the frog.

"Your turn Cell," Baba said with obvious boredom.

Cell stared at the ball and wondered, he could be as repetitive as the rest and ask to see things that really didn't matter, he could ask to see Goku or even Dr. Zero; but there was only one thing he truly wanted to see.

"Hina," he said and Baba raised an eyebrow.

"I've never heard of a warrior by that name" She said and Cell shook his head slowly.

"It's a human female," he said and everyone's eyes widened.

Baba cleared her throat after a few seconds. "You'll need to be more specific than that, there's probably a million females out there with that name," she said and Cell nodded.

"What do you need in order to find her?" He asked and Baba stared at him a few seconds, she couldn't understand why he would want to see a human.

"Full name for one, then the area where she resides in…or…well, if she means anything to you I can just use that," she said and Cell nodded.

He didn't even know her full name, he did know where she lived but he also knew she meant a lot to him and he wasn't even ashamed of mentioning it in front of his 'cell mates'. He had spent months here thinking of everything and eventually that was the only conclusion he could come to; he had sacrificed his life in order to preserve hers and that said enough. "I love her," he said and he could hear some of the other 'evil people' toppling over from shock, but he wasn't looking at them, he was looking at Baba and the ball. "Use that." he said.

**x.X.x**

**Please note that I used the word fornicate because I couldn't imagine Cell thinking of marriage in any context. **

**Also, this chapter was to lay out that he does actually love her. Or at least realized it in a manly way, or the manliest way I could muster. I also thought it would be a nice touch that he was unashamed of it, thus admitting it in front of the entire bad-guy squad. **

**I personally think he's admitting it too soon, but if this kept on much longer I'm sure you guys would've gotten bored. :/ **

**Writing is a funny business. If I had him run up to her on the first chapter yelling. "OMG, have my small blue babiez!" you would've flamed me for being stupid and making it all happen too fast. So I hope I paced this right. **

**Please review :D**


	22. Chapter 22

**For the record, her anger in this chapter is due to the fact that it seems to be easier to deal with death if you have someone to blame. I know this is a 'long time' after his death, but usually small things, as you'll notice in this chapter, caused it all to come crashing back to her. **

**Replies to my lovely reviewers:**

**DarkMagicianMidget**: You have a very legit question there and the way you said it made me laugh XD However, I assume it would come out appearing more human than 'him'. I'm kind of thinking Sai from Naruto to be honest XD But with purplish eyes. His own little gremlins was taken directly from his DNA, but he also has a lot of human/Saiyan DNA in him, and mixed with hers, per se, would result in a more human child. Just a very pale and very strong child.

**Bulma3678: **Aw, thanks for the review. What other type of stories do you like with DBZ characters? I might be able to make another one, or most likely already have one lying somewhere on my hard-drive. I have a very old one that is begging to be rewritten. It's about Vegeta going into the past to save his father, etc, etc, etc. Not a romance or anything, but he does kick some serious ass in it. Not to be read if you're a Frieza fan.

**Cupcakes and Tea: **Hehe, if you stop loving it I'm doing some wrong. Thank you for the review and hope you like this chapter as well.

**Zerousy**: Yup, he said it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Well, here's the chapter Please read and review.**

**x.X.x**

Baba nodded as she wiped a bit of perspiration from her forehead, she had spoken to Goku a few weeks ago and he had mentioned that he thought there was more to Cell than what he suspected; it appeared he was right.

She started chanting and a few seconds later the imagine of a woman came onto the ball and Baba had to admit she was curious to see what this woman was like. It took a special type of mortal to have the strength to stomach a monster and make that monster fall in love with her.

Cell's eyes widened when he saw her, she looked different, morbid actually and her hair was longer.

She was sitting on her bed cross-legged and playing solitaire, her hair tied back in a ponytail. Cell watched as she moved the cards about and he felt his stomach turn. She looked _sad, _but at least she was still alive, he hadn't known whether she was still alive after he had died, but at least now he knew she was.

x.X.x

A minute passed and Baba cleared her throat. "Time is up, see you next year," she said as she made the image of the girl playing cards fade away, but a second later Cell's hand shot through the bars and he grabbed the witch by the collar of her robe.

"Wait!" He yelled and Baba immediately blinked out of his hold, wiping herself off before looking at him angrily.

"Watch what you grab; I'm an old lady you know!" She yelled and Cell huffed as he crossed his arms. "What is it?" She asked and Cell felt the words stick in his throat, requesting this would take a dent out of his pride, but it was the least he could do and it would make him feel better.

"Tell Goku…" he started, it felt harder to utter these words that it felt to consider surrendering. "…to tell the girl…" he swallowed hard. "Just tell him to go tell her that I'm fine, tell him to lie to her if he must, but tell her I'm fine," he said and Baba raised an eyebrow.

"It's not in my nature to do favors for your kind…but this is a request I find reasonable, I'll tell Goku right away," she said and Cell thanked her under his breath, it wasn't in his nature to ask favors either. "Any other messages for the girl? Something you want to tell her?" She asked and Cell brought his thumb up to his lips as he thought about it.

There were a million things he could tell her, he could tell her he was thinking about her, he could tell her he was happy that she was alive, he could tell her that he was in a cell with a few bitter-villains, or he could tell her the most important thing of all; he could tell her he loved her. "No, nothing," he answered and Baba nodded and then she was gone.

Cell looked towards his cell-mates now and saw they were all stifling what he suspected to be laughter. "One word, I dare you, ONE word," Cell said as his eyes darkened.

"I-" Jeice started, but the next second a fist connected with his jaw and he shot against the wall.

"That's one word," Cell said and then started attacking everyone in the cell, he needed to beat the living daylights out of something and they were the only things that were around and best of all was that they couldn't die.

x.X.x

Baba arrived at the lookout and found Goku was still there, he seemed to be spending a lot of time up in the lookout with the rest of the fighters; they were all training as far as she knew.

"Baba!" Goku yelled happily as he strolled over to her, everyone walked up to her but Vegeta kept his distance, the old hag unnerved him.

"I have a message," she said and Goku nodded happily. "From Cell," she continued and that caught everyone's attention.

"What? From Cell?" Vegeta asked as he stepped closer to Baba than he usually would.

"Yes," she said and Vegeta stepped back again, but remained close enough that he could hear everything she said. "He has a message for Goku," she said and Goku immediately went serious.

"It must be important if you're delivering it, has he found a way to get out of H.F.I.L?" Goku asked and Baba immediately shook her head. "What then?"

"He wants you to go to a woman named Hina and give her a message," she said and everyone fell over from shock at the 'message'.

"What?" Goku asked once he got to his feet. "Really?" He asked and Baba nodded. "Wow, okay, what is it?" He asked, completely relaxed now.

"He asked that you go to her and tell her that he is fine, I don't think he wants you to tell her exactly where he is, so he asked that you lie if you must," she said and Goku's eyes widened.

"It must be some sort of trick," Vegeta said and Baba looked towards him instantly, he went blue in his face and took a step back, further away from her.

"What else did he say?" Goku asked and Baba floated closer to Goku.

"You were right when you said you thought there was more to the story," she said and Goku nodded for her to continue. "He said he loves her and I used that to find the girl on the ball, the mere fact that I found her that way means it's true," Baba said and Goku's eyes widened.

So he had been right, but how on earth had that even happened? How was it possible that Cell had fallen in love with a mortal?

"Absurd!" Vegeta yelled angrily. "There is no way!" He continued and Goku raised his hand for Vegeta to stop talking.

"If you're going back there feel free to tell Cell I've told her, I'm going right now," he said and Baba nodded, but then looked towards Goku.

"Just one thing, I don't think Cell wants the female to know what he feels for her, the message he sends is to set her at ease, so don't say _anything _else," Baba said and Goku nodded before bringing his fingers to his forehead.

x.X.x

Hina sighed as she started to shuffle the cards and just as she was about to lay them out on the bed again she saw something come into her vision from the right. She looked that way and when she saw Goku she scowled. "Get the hell out of my house," she said bitterly as her hand clutched around the pack of cards tightly.

"Woh, calm down," Goku said with a friendly smile, but instead the pack of cards came flying for his head, it hit him on his forehead a second later and all the cards scattered into different directions.

"Get the hell out of my sight, you've done enough," she said angrily and Goku stared at her in surprise. She was so _angry _and bitter towards him, it wasn't his fault that Cell threw the blast and it wasn't his fault that Cell didn't want to surrender!

"I have a message for you," he said softly and she got off the bed and shoved him on his chest hard.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She screamed and Goku took a step backwards. "GET OUT!" She continued as she readied her palm to slap him.

"The message is from Cell!" He yelled quickly and she immediately froze, lowering her hand.

"What?" She whispered.

"He sent a message with someone for you," he said and Hina glowered at him.

"I don't believe you," she said and Goku lifted his hands up in defense to try and calm her down, but her eyes still burned angrily.

"He said to tell you that he's fine, that you shouldn't worry about him," he said and Hina growled.

"He would've been _fine _if you hadn't killed him!" She yelled and Goku was feeling cornered, it was as if he was looking at a younger version of Chi-Chi, she was completely volatile!

"I'm sorry for your loss," Goku said quickly, but she didn't calm down.

"You killed him! I begged you not to kill him but you still killed him!" She screamed at him and Goku sighed.

"I couldn't stop the blast even if I wanted to," he said and that was the truth.

"Then wish him back! I know you have those items, wish him back!" She yelled as tears started to stream from her eyes. Goku wished he could tell her that he would do that, but wishing Cell back would most likely be a mistake he was going to regret.

"I'm sorry," he offered instead and she looked away from him from both disgust and her desire to hide her tears.

"No you're not, now go," she said and Goku opened his mouth to speak but she spoke again. "You've delivered his message, so leave, go, I don't want you near me," she said as she swallowed hard.

Goku sighed as he brought his fingers to his forehead; there was nothing else he could do.

x.X.x

When he was gone Hina fell down on the bed and screamed, she screamed as hard as she could for as long as she could.

x.X.x

Eventually her voice was hoarse and her tears were gone, she had nothing left to give and instead felt empty. Was Cell trying to torture her? Was that his plan? If he had really sent that message he was a bastard, she was just coming to terms with his death and then he did _this_.

Goes and flaunts it in her face that he's dead and then tries to tell her he's _fine_. Where does he get off telling her he's _fine_? It was his fault and that Goku mans fault. How dare he even show his face to her after what he's done? Telling her he's _sorry _for her loss but refusing to do anything about it? She should've kicked him in his jewels for good measure.

His death had made her a bitter person and she hated it, she snapped at her mother and even now her mother was keeping her distance, rather running off to her aunt in a futile attempt to 'give her space'.

No amount of space could make her feel better. He was dead and he wasn't coming back and all his 'message' did was remind her of that.

x.X.x

(Many weeks later)

Cell leaned back against the prison wall, everyone was keeping their distance from him and he preferred it that way. Luckily they hadn't dared bring up the fact that he admitted his love for a mortal, it was partially due to the fact that they were far too frightened of him to even dare think about it.

He wondered whether Baba had given the message to Goku and whether Goku had actually bothered to give it to her. He hoped he had because she had looked morbid when he had seen her and he didn't like it.

x.X.x

"Get out of my house!" Hina yelled as she tossed a toaster at Goku, he grabbed it and set it down gently and every few seconds he threw an apology at the petrified mother of the girl, whom was hiding behind the wall and watching her daughter go ballistic.

Since his last visit Goku had decided that he would help the girl get over the death of Cell and when he had come here but an hour ago he realized it was going to be hard; every few seconds she tried to assault him physically or threw him with something.

It had gotten to the point where everything that wasn't nailed down to the floor was being tossed at him.

"It's your fault, your fault and his fault!" She screamed as she picked up the knife rack and threw it at Goku, the knives hit his body but it didn't enter his flesh; the only sign of panic was from her mother when she screamed.

"Stop this!" She yelled towards Hina, but Hina shook her head.

"It's his fault he's dead mom, his fault!" She yelled as she balled her fists, scanning her immediate vicinity for something to throw at Goku, but nothing was left except herself, so she lunged at him and tried to attack him, but it was useless. She hit him but he didn't flinch or feel anything and it angered her. She wanted to inflict the same type of pain on him that he had inflicted on her.

"Who's dead? Just tell me!" Jasmine yelled and Hina ignored her completely as she jumped back from Goku, tired from her spat of anger, but still furious.

"You need to let it out, you need to speak to someone about it! I know you loved him!" Goku yelled and Hina's eyes sparked angrily.

"How dare you tell me who I love and who I don't!" She screamed and Jasmine looked from the black-headed man to her daughter in utter confusion.

She tried to attack Goku again, but he grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth and held her tightly and she started to thrash. "Calm down!" He yelled and the next second she bit his hand, he yelped as he let go of her mouth.

"I hate you!" She screamed as she continued to try and get loose from his hold, but he wouldn't let her go until she calmed down, but she wasn't planning on that.

"But you love him!" Goku argued and this made her angrier.

"What does it matter, he's dead, let me go and get away from me!" She screamed as she kicked back against his kneecap and that made him let go, she jumped from his hold and ran to the opposite side of the room, out of breath.

"Why… tell me why you love him, what did he do to merit that?" Goku asked, he needed to know what ensued between the two to fully understand.

"Love who?" Jasmine yelled and Hina grew angry with her mother, she snapped her head towards her.

"Cell!" She yelled and she saw Jasmine's eyes widen. "But he's dead!" She said and then pointed towards Goku. "He killed him!" She yelled and when she saw her mother was no longer capable of talking she looked back towards Goku.

"Why would you even care why I feel for him what I do, you're merely here to try and tell me to _heal _and _let go_," she hissed out bitterly.

"I want to understand why you feel it so that I can better understand why he feels it," Goku said and her eyes darkened.

"Don't play coy with me!" She yelled as she balled her fists. "If he felt _anything _for me he wouldn't have died! He wouldn't have been so arrogant as to refuse to surrender!" She yelled out, she felt so _angry _inside that it scared her, but somehow it helped.

"He died to save you!" Goku yelled before he realized what he was saying.

Hina's eyes widened, but then narrowed. "How exactly did he do that?" She asked bitterly and Goku knew the ball was already rolling, so he might as well tell her, perhaps then she would get over it easier.

"You were too close to survive the ensuing explosion if he continued with his blast, so he threw it; he gave up so that you wouldn't die," he said softly and Hina's eyes went wide again as she froze.

Could he be telling the truth? When she had gotten there Cell seemed to have been doing okay with the blast, but then he just opened his arms and _died_. She put her hand to her mouth and felt hot tears streaming down her face a second later. It was her fault then, she had caused his death.

If only she had stayed away, perhaps he would've been alive still, she didn't know whether he would've won either way, but perhaps he would've come to his senses and given up. He would've been alive then, he wouldn't be dead and some place she didn't even wish to imagine.

Goku saw the realization sink into her mind, but not the one he wanted her to realize; instead he saw a look of guilt on her face, she was blaming herself now.

"It wasn't your fault," Goku said but she didn't reply, instead she sank down on the ground, all the anger she had leaving her.

"He would've died anyway, you did him a favor, he died for a reason instead of his own selfish motive to control the world," Goku said and she shook her head. "He wasn't going to surrender, you didn't kill him," Goku continued, but she was mortified.

"Go away…" she whispered and he felt guilty now, he should've kept quiet, this guilt was worse than her anger, far worse. "No wonder he told you to tell me he's fine, it's my fault he's dead, he wanted…to…tell me he's okay because of that…" she mumbled.

Goku shook his head, he was sure that wasn't the reason; Baba said he confessed his love for her; he wouldn't do something to make her feel guilty then. It itched in him to tell her what Baba had told him, to tell her that Cell confessed his love, but it wouldn't do her any good, it would only make it worse and he had done enough to make her suffer it seemed.

There was a solution to everything and that was to bring Cell back, to wish back someone who wanted to destroy earth. How could he do that? How could he put the lives of everyone on the line just to help one mortal? What guarantee did he have that Cell would even change; he didn't change before he died. It would be all too easy for him to just shove the love aside and destroy the planet.

For all Goku knew, it could be a trick; he didn't think it was, but he had seen so many ploys before that he was unsure.

No…doesn't matter what, he couldn't bring Cell back.

"I'll leave you two alone then," he said as he gave a nod towards Jasmine and then he was gone.

**x.X.x**

**Next chapter will be a sort of reunion. I know it seems quick, but I could've broken this and the previous chapter up into 5 smaller chapters and taken x amount of months to update. However, I'm not that cruel ^^**


	23. Chapter 23

**This is a very short chapter, but only because I'm running out of pre-written stuff (about 20k words left before my pile is empty) and I need some time to catch up on my writing. **

**DarkMagicianMidget: **Haha, thanks for the mini story, that actually made me laugh xD. As for the genetic appearance of the child, I don't think it'll look like Krillen or Frieza, or anyone else. It would probably have the dominant traits of both parents physically. Or at least I hope to god it would . And the complaining came when I didn't update for like 2 months because I was playing Diablo . So I'm guilty of that.

**Zerousy: **Well, as with life, things usually go worse before it goes better. Usually :/

**FoxyAlterEgos: **Thank you for the review And hope this was quick enough for you?

**Bulma3678: **Thank you :D Your review made my day ^^

**x.X.x**

(Almost a year later)

It was that time of the 'year' again and Cell watched as all of the others looked at what they usually did, spying on the people that really didn't matter. It seemed Goku was doing alright, he was busy training his son further, but Goku had truly gotten strong, so strong that Cell could feel his energy from the cell.

When it was his turn Baba looked at him. "The female?" She asked in her haggard voice and Cell just gave a nod and soon the ball shimmered to her.

She was sitting outside by her horse, which was lying down on the ground, and it took him a second to realize her skin was lathered in blood and not just _red_. He jumped up and ran towards the edge of the cell and stared intently at the pictures playing out before him.

Her arms were shaking and he saw the animal was dead, her horse was dead and she was bathed in the blood of the animal. Her arms were shaking, but he couldn't see her face. What had happened? He tried to look passed her at the damage to the horse, but it was impossible to see since he wasn't there.

"What happened?" He yelled towards the witch and she stared at him with bemusement.

"How should I know? I'm only showing you," she said and Cell grunted as he looked back at the images.

He saw Hina look to her side and started yelling at something that was off-screen and a second later she suddenly fell down on the ground and a spray of blood shot from her arm. Cell narrowed his eyes in confusion at what happened, why did she fall down? Why the sudden bloody spray? He wished the infernal ball of her had any sort of sound.

Baba's eyes widened as she watched the girl fall down from the bullet that hit her. "Goku, I need to tell Goku," she said, she didn't believe in the ruthless killing of anyone and it seemed the girl was in danger. Last time she had spoken to Goku he had seemed intent on helping the female get over her loss and now she was in danger.

"What's happening?" Cell yelled, he wasn't entirely aware of human weaponry, except when the military had personally assaulted him, but he didn't understand this as he couldn't see or hear what was happening, all he could see was blood, on her, and that was enough to upset him.

"She's being attacked," Baba said as she was about to pick up the ball, but Cell grabbed her through the bars and slammed her against it hard. "Hey!" Baba yelled as she blinked out of his grip for the second time since she's known him.

"Don't you dare take that ball, I have to see!" He yelled and Baba shook her head, a little known secret was that the ball was her only way to travel.

"I have to go to Goku with it, so that he can save her," Baba said as she reached for the ball, but Cell planted his hands around it, he couldn't let her go with the thing, he needed to see, needed to make sure she was okay.

He could see she was on the ground and talking to the side, but he couldn't see the person she was talking to, but he could see the wound on the horse now that she was out of the way. The animal was shot various times apparently and it dawned on him that she had also been shot, guns were deadly to humans and _someone _had shot her.

"There's not enough time to go to him!" He yelled and Baba shook her head as she tried to wrestle the ball out of his hands, but even if she could blink out of his grip, she didn't physically have the strength to _get _something out of his grip.

"Well I can't go there soul alone, I'm vulnerable to bullets you know!" She yelled and Cell scowled.

"Then let me go!" He yelled and Baba suddenly straightened up and considered his proposal, she was in charge of the release of souls temporarily. Depending on the type of energy the individual exhibited they could stay between 5 minutes and 5 years, for someone like Goku, who exhibited a lot of energy, it was a stretch to give him so much as a week. But she could give someone a minute, even someone like Cell. It wouldn't be enough to destroy the planet in any sense of the word, but it would be enough to save the girl.

She didn't know whether she wanted to risk it though, he would need to come back willingly with her. The effects of not coming back willingly would result in a rip in the universe and he would be forcibly pulled back, but the rip could allow passage for other souls to escape and that would just be more cleanup work than she wanted or needed.

"Dammit!" Cell yelled as he saw Hina get shot again, she was lying down against the barn wall, blood seeped from her shoulders and she looked frightened, he couldn't handle seeing her like that. "Go to Goku then, go!" He yelled as he let go of the ball, the witch wasn't leaving without it apparently.

Baba sighed as she held her hand out to Cell and with a bit of magic she jerked him straight through the prison bars as she removed some of the restrictions of the dead, one of them was giving him back all his powers. He wasn't worrying about destroying the planet; he was earnestly worried about the girl.

"Go, you have 2 minutes then you need to be back, I'll come to get you," she said and Cell's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything as he instead put his fingers to his forehead.

When he disappeared Baba instead looked at the ball to see the show that ensued and with a wave of her hand there was suddenly sound, and everyone's mouths fell open as they stared at her. "What? You didn't think you'd get all the channels in hell did you?" She asked with a cackle, she deliberately left out the sound as she didn't like giving them favors to start with.

**x.X.x**

**His not-so-dramatic entrance to the living world is in the next chapter. Welcome to my cruel and silly attempt at a cliffhanger. Please review The next chapter will be up tomorrow – so no big wait.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Firstly, sorry for the late update: I ran out of internet bandwidth (currently posting from internet shop). I'll only update the next chapter at the end of the month. **

**Be prepared for a chapter that made me feel so sweet I decided to never eat chocolate again. I cringe at cute stuff usually, so if you do to, run while you can. However, I made a major exception for this story. **

**Aquasage: **Haha, glad you liked that. I intend to write a humor fic for Vegeta and Goku sometime in the future. Those who fighting are usually funny. ^.^ And now I'm curious about what you did that was so bad :O Sorry for making you wait for this chapter – did not expect to run out of internet v.v (I download too much). I personally also hate animal cruelty, quite frankly, I tend to pick animal safety above human safety :/

**Zerousy: **XD, you're going to make me have to put that disclaimer stuff in my profile :O Thanks for the review and here is the next episode…err…chapter. XD

**Bulma3678: **Thanks for the review ^^ And I guess you'll find out what happens now? Lest I decide on another cliffhanger :D

**DarkMagicianMidget: **Yes, I'm very very evil, the evil overlord of…not sure yet. As for the horse, well, I absolutely adore animals, so that should answer your question. As for his 'junk', my logical side of my brain tells me it's that black cap thing on his crotch area . But I actually have no idea, I'm assuming. I read your profile and saw you really like Yu-Gi-Oh (I watched the leather pants thing for the first time, omg…it's funny XD). By the time I posted this I should've pm'd you already ^^

**SanguineSky**: Aah, thanks. And no…he is not the shooter. I'm not sure if I'm going to implement him in the story otherwise. Mostly men/woman just disappear and fail to make contact again – from what I've seen in real life at least.

**FoxyAlterEgos: **:P I don't have patience either XD Sorry for the wait and thanks for the review.

**Well, here's the chapter ^^ Enjoy. Oh yes, as of next chapter I'll move the review comments to the bottom of the story (just for the fact that I realized it's actually pretty damn annoying to have it hog the start.)**

**x.X.x**

Hina leaned against the wall, her one hand over her bleeding shoulder and all she could think of was her dying horse at her side. These men had come out of nowhere, they had raided her house and shoved her mother into the bathroom and then they chased her outside. She had tried to get on her horse to go get help but they had shot Blossom mercilessly and now they were advancing on her like a pair of vultures.

They were a few feet from her when something impossible happened, the ghost of Cell suddenly appeared behind them and she had to smile. She was about to die and his ghost was coming to visit her, how nostalgic.

She watched as his ghost grabbed the men by their necks and lifted them into the air and then with a completely un-Cell like fashion he didn't kill them, he instead threw them a few yards and they landed in the lake.

How ironic, that she was hallucinating at a time like this, she couldn't even see the men anymore, only Cell, though they were still there, she just imagined they weren't.

Cell watched her eyes dilate and with panic he ran to her and grabbed her behind her back, he lifted her up and immediately pulled the bullets from her flesh.

Hina let out a scream as her body racked with pain, in her stupor she considered that they had shot her again, but when the pain finally kicked in properly she realized she wasn't seeing things.

She sat up quickly and after coughing up some blood she shot her head towards Cell, her eyes wide, she couldn't find her words. How could he be here?

The second the bullets were from her body he started to heal her, her entire body enveloped in a green aura. "I don't have long," he said and her eyes were still wide.

"How are you here?" She asked after about five seconds, he wasn't a ghost, she could feel his hands on her and it felt _real_.

"I pulled some favors on the spur of the moment," he said, it wasn't exactly favors, but that witch had done him a great favor by allowing this, Goku wouldn't have been able to reach her in time. God, he had just shown up here and he was sure Goku could feel his aura and he wasn't here yet. She would've been dead by now, he wished he could've killed those men, but he was worried that that would've caused him to instantly go back to H.F.I.L; and he wanted to heal her first.

"How did you know?" She asked and once Cell was done he got to his feet, pulling her with.

"Doesn't matter," he said as he mentally calculated the time he had left, it was just under a minute.

"My horse," she said suddenly and Cell looked towards the animal and saw it was still alive, he didn't need her to speak further to understand what she was asking. He walked towards the horse and bended down by it and started to heal the animal after pulling the bullets from her body.

Hina looked at Cell as he was crouched down by Blossom and she didn't know what to say, he was _here_, alive in a sense. He had come to save her and he had done so, how had he known and how had he managed to be here?

Half a minute later Cell was done and stepped back, watching as the horse got to her feet, he turned towards Hina and looked at her shocked face. "I need to go again," he said and she ran towards him, stopping a foot from him.

"No, why?" She asked and he said nothing. "I'm sorry I caused your death," she said suddenly and his eyes widened. "Goku told me," she said and Cell growled angrily, how dare Goku put that on her?

"You didn't cause my death," he said, he wasn't lying, his own stupidity caused it. She had just escalated it, it wasn't her fault.

"Why do you need to go back? You're here now!" She yelled and a second later she saw Jasmine running from the backdoor, when she saw Cell she threw her hands over her mouth.

Hina looked at her for a split second before looking back at Cell, her mother hadn't exactly accepted the fact that she was in love with a monster, they were actually estranged for a few months. But eventually Jasmine had come back and said she understood, you can't choose who you love or fall in love with.

Cell nodded in the direction of the horrified mother and then looked back at Hina, he was about to speak further when Baba suddenly appeared at his side.

"Time's up Cell," she said and Cell looked at Baba and then at Hina, he wondered what would happen if he refused to go? He sighed, he couldn't do that, because if it ever came to this again he wouldn't be able to come to her again; there was no guarantee he could escape if he tried to and he wasn't willing to risk it.

He gave a solemn nod towards Baba and then looked at Hina. "Goodbye," he said and Hina shook her head and suddenly dived the old witch off her ball.

"Why do you need to take him?" She yelled as she shook her, Baba's head bobbed up and down as she began to see stars.

Cell stared at her in shock, why was she so eager for him to stay?

It took Baba a few seconds before she finally escaped from the grip of the girl and when she did she floated up next to Cell. "I'm sorry dear, it's not for me to decide," she said and Hina looked at Cell, tears swelling up in her eyes.

"Can't you give us more time?" She asked as she looked back at Baba. "Please, please," she begged, she was at the point where she would go on her knees, she didn't care whether it was a minute more, she just wanted to say goodbye to him properly, she never got to do that.

Baba opened her mouth to speak when Goku suddenly appeared up in the sky, Baba looked up at him and inwardly she felt safer, being stuck between a volatile girl and a maniac killer didn't make her feel safe at all.

Goku stared at Cell and Baba in shock; he noticed the blood covering the girl's arms and was immediately confused. "What's going on?" He asked and Baba floated away from Cell and towards Goku.

"The girl was in danger, the quickest route to save her seemed to be Cell," Baba said and Goku stared at Cell intently, Cell was returning the stare but Goku noticed there was no anger in his eyes. Not like with the other people he had killed, all of them hated him and despised him, but Cell didn't seem to care.

"Did you kill them?" Goku asked suddenly and Cell huffed as he pointed towards the lake, Goku turned around in time to see two wet humans crawl from it and then run away. He was inwardly shocked that Cell hadn't taken their lives, but relieved as well.

"C'mon Cell, we have to go," Baba said and Cell nodded as he started to float up towards her, but Hina immediately shook her head and ran towards Baba, or at least to as close as she could get considering she was a few feet up in the air.

"No! Just give us another minute, please!" She yelled and Baba shook her head and was about to leave when Goku grabbed her hat from her head.

"Goku!" Baba yelled as she tried to grab the hat back, but Goku swiftly moved it out of the way.

"C'mon, just give them a few more minutes," he said as he continued to move the hat out of her reach and Cell stared at Goku with utter confusion, why was he trying to help him?

Cell sank back down on the ground and looked at Hina, she looked panicked at his coming departure; he didn't understand why, it had been so long since he died, she should've been over it already, why was she even bend out of shape about it to start with?

"Fine!" Baba yelled as she finally managed to grab her hat from Goku's hand, she put it back on her head and looked at Cell and Hina. "Cell, you have until tomorrow afternoon to set your affairs in order," she said and then glowered at Goku. "If he destroys this planet, don't come crying to me," she said and then she was gone.

When she was gone Goku looked at Cell and Hina and wasn't sure what to say; he didn't know whether Cell would try to destroy the planet, but something in his heart told him he wouldn't. He decided there was nothing he wanted to say, so instead he just left, leaving the two of them alone.

When they were gone Cell looked at Hina and then looked passed her at her mother, Jasmine was standing there, her hand still covering her mouth. "Don't worry, I'm still dead," he told her and a second later she toppled over.

"Mom!" Hina yelled as she ran to her passed out mother. "Can you help me get her inside?" She asked towards Cell and Cell just gave a nod as he walked towards the fallen mother, he took her from Hina's hands and carried her inside and then took her towards her room.

He couldn't believe Goku had actually convinced Baba to give him extra time, it made absolutely no sense that he would do that. Cell was the enemy and he had done this. He had an entire day on the planet and Baba had been right, he could easily destroy the planet in that time, but he didn't want to. There was no point, though it would be the ultimate revenge.

Once he was done putting Jasmine down on her bed he turned around and looked at Hina, it felt awkward being in her presence after he had technically been dead for just under two years.

"What did you want to tell me?" He asked, he assumed that was why she had been so eager to get him to stay a bit longer.

Hina swallowed before speaking. "Let's…just…talk," she said and Cell gave a nod as he walked passed her and towards the backdoor again, he didn't fancy the idea of being in the house when the mother awoke.

Once they were outside Cell turned to her. "Well…let's talk," he said and Hina shuffled on her feet, all those months she suffered in silence and now she had a chance to tell him exactly how she felt, but she felt petrified.

What she didn't know was that Cell shared that feeling to a certain degree, working something out in your mind was different to actually working it out.

"Where are you? I mean…in that place?" Hina asked as she went to sit down on a tree stump, Cell remained standing and instead crossed his arms.

"Doesn't matter where," he answered, he didn't want to tell her where he was as she didn't need to know that, it would only upset her.

"Oh…well…did you really send that message?" She asked and he gave a nod. "Oh… I wasn't sure," she said and he smirked. "Why did you send it? How did you know I was in danger?" She asked and Cell sighed, he might as well tell her that.

"Where I am, once a year each person in that place gets to choose to see one thing, that's how," he said and her eyes widened.

"You chose to see me?" She asked and he gave a nod. "So…that's how you knew," she said softly and he nodded again.

"But…how did you get here? And don't tell me you pulled favors," she said and Cell scowled for a second, but then smirked.

"Very well," he said and then uncrossed his arms. "I saw that you were in danger and the pinked hair witch, which you dove off her ball, had a choice, go get Goku or let me go immediately; the quickest option was I," he answered and she went red in her face when she remembered she kind of attacked that woman, which was apparently a witch; probably not the best choice she had made.

"Thank you," she said and Cell nodded.

"Don't mention it," he said and she was reminded of what that meant, so she just smiled.

"How have you been doing?" Cell asked after a few seconds and she looked up at him and just _looked _at him, she had gotten to the point where she had thought she forgot what he looked like.

"Good, considering," she said and he scowled.

"Considering?" He questioned and she let out a laugh.

"Don't act like you didn't know your death affected me," she said and he said nothing as he instead just looked at her. "I never even said goodbye," she continued and then got to her feet.

"I did, you just believed I wouldn't lose," he said and she nodded as she walked to in front of him and then looked down at her feet. All she wanted was to grab him and hug him, tell him she was glad she could at least see him again, but how could she do that when he was who he was? He wouldn't appreciate it one bit.

"Oh fuck, I don't care," she said suddenly and Cell raised an eyebrow at her.

"Excuse me?" He asked and a second later she threw her arms around him and clung onto him.

"I'm glad I can see you again," she said against his chest and Cell stared down at her as she clung onto him and he wondered what had gotten into her, she never showed this type of emotion in front of him; but then again, he neither showed any in front of her.

With a sigh he put his one arm around her back and returned the hug, partially at least. "It's only for a day," he reminded her and then laughed inwardly. The one day he got to return to earth he chose to spend with her; he could've done anything, he could've terrorized the world or even destroyed it, but he chose her.

With that thought he put his other arm around her and held her genuinely, held her to him and he didn't care whether Goku or anyone else was watching.

"A day is enough," she said. "You don't need to sleep, so I won't either, that's 24 hours then," she said and Cell smirked.

"Come now, you've had a hard day as it is, you should rest," he said and she shook her head.

"No," she argued.

"I could just knock you out again," he said and she suddenly looked up at him, confusion in her eyes.

"You knocked me out before?" She asked and Cell realized she honestly didn't know that.

"Why do you think your memory of that birthday night ended so abruptly? You didn't pass out," he said and her mouth fell open in shock.

"You…knocked me out?" She asked in horror and her face was comical to him, but he tried to restrain his laughter, so he just nodded. "You don't just kiss someone and then knock them out!" She yelled and then went red in her face for bringing it up.

"I was relatively unnerved by my actions and that seemed to be the quickest escape route," he said and her mouth still hung open.

"Then why did you do it to start with?" She asked suddenly and Cell let her go and stepped back, crossing his arms again. She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly regretting that she had brought it up, she didn't want to land in a fight with him, not now.

"My reason doesn't matter," he said and she scowled.

"Maybe not to you," she said and Cell smirked.

"Then let's see if you can answer my question," he said. "Remember that question I wanted to ask you, but never did?" He asked and she nodded immediately, she remembered it quite well.

"Yes, I still want to know," she said and he nodded.

"You're about to, whether you want to answer me is up to you," he said and she gave a nod.

"Okay… ask it," she said as she went to sit back down on the tree stump.

"Why did you return the kiss?" He asked and she immediately went red in her face and then paled down to a pasty white color.

"I was drunk," she said after a few seconds and Cell smirked, he thought she'd say that.

"Then tell me… how did you manage to confuse a monster with a man?" He asked and she immediately turned angry.

"You're not a monster!" She yelled.

"Aren't I? Look at me," he said and she didn't, she looked away from him. "What is human about me?" He brought up and she still didn't look at him, instead staring down at the ground.

"The humanity of your soul doesn't rely on your outward appearance Cell," she said and Cell smirked.

"Really? Then tell me… what have I done to merit myself humanity? I've done enough to earn my place in Hell for an eternity and I don't even regret it," he admitted and she grew angry suddenly and glared at him.

"What did those men who shot me and my horse do to merit humanity? NOTHING, but they were human!" She yelled and then walked right up to Cell. "You saved my life when you came here!" She continued and Cell sighed.

"Wasn't I the one who took it to start with?" He asked.

"You apologized! And you even died to save me!" She yelled and Cell scowled, he would have to find a way to get Goku back for telling her that. He never wanted her to know that.

"Forget about that, you still haven't answered my question properly, the excuse of being drunk is not enough; I know you and you wouldn't easily do something like that lest there was a reason," he said and that seemed to immediately calm her down because she went white in her face again and looked down.

"Why do you desire an answer so badly? How will it benefit you if you know?" She asked and Cell shuffled for a second.

"The question has bothered me since the day it happened, I would like to know before I return," he answered.

Her eyes widened, how could she deny him the truth now? "I know you Cell… maybe not as well I want to… but… I know you," she said and he brought his finger to her lips to quiet her down.

"You know me better than my own creator," he confirmed and she immediately blushed. "Continue," he said and she gave a nod as she looked away from him.

"I can't remember that night too good… mostly because I was drunk," she said with a laugh. "But if I have to think about it…it was because…" she felt the words stick in her throat. "It was…because I was falling for you," she said quickly and Cell's eyes widened slightly.

"And now?" He asked.

"Now? Now I know," she said with a laugh and Cell didn't understand.

"Know what?" He questioned and she looked at him and smiled, it felt awkward saying these things to him, but this would probably be the last chance she got to say them and she might as well get it out of the now.

"That I love you,"

**x.X.x**

**Sappy…I know…but remember, 2 years have passed since his death so the both of them had time to reflect on things. I usually don't write such sappy stuff, usually dark stuff. But…sorry people, dark stuff is coming eventually.**

**But don't worry, only briefly and mostly because of his programming. **


	25. Chapter 25

**I don't know how to apologize for the late chapter – but I'll try to explain why.**

**I got a new job that is very time consuming, and then my mother broke her ankle and she couldn't work until it was fixed (still two weeks left on that) and just as that started to get better I decided to be a moron and fall into a glass with my hand. Seven stitches in total, two of my tendons are off on my right hand (middle and index finger), going for the operation Monday. I'm going to be out of order for 6 weeks as of Monday, but I'll try to update. I'm updating a few chapters just to say sorry and I AM sorry, but real-life interfered majorly. **

**x.X.x**

Piccolo, Baba, Goku, Vegeta and everyone else who had been listening fell back in shock at her blatant confession. Baba had come up to the lookout with Goku and she had insisted they at least watch the preliminaries before they wrote off the possibility of him destroying the planet in his 'free time'.

When it had come to light that he had kissed her it had knocked Vegeta straight out of his boots and left half of the people flabbergasted. It was even weirder when they discovered he had actually killed her in the past, her reincarnation was obviously due to Cell wishing everything back to life.

But now it was obvious… the girl loved Cell and he loved her.

"Impossible, absurd," Vegeta muttered.

"Shhh…" Goku said as he continued to look at the ball, he felt a fuzzy feeling inside from knowing there was at least one other 'villain' that had found something else to live for besides destruction, especially one created by Dr. Gero.

It didn't mean he was going to bring him back, but at least Cell had discovered love, something most people were deprived of.

x.X.x

Cell stared at her in complete silence, even the birds in the forest seemed to have quieted down in shock.

Hina saw his expression and immediately regretted that she had said that. "I'm sorry," she muttered as she stepped back from him, but as she did so she felt his hand enclose around her wrist, but not harshly, he was holding it gently.

"You…love me?" He asked and she turned towards him.

"Ridiculous, I know," she said and Cell said nothing as he held onto her wrist still. It was absurd, that was true, but she had said it. He knew he loved her, but how could she love him? He had killed her, terrorized her kin and even hurt her physically for his own pleasure. How could she love him after that?

"Why?" He managed to ask after a minute.

"I don't know why," she said softly and Cell wanted an answer, but he supposed that would be good enough; mortals were odd creatures, which was what had gotten him into the whole mess to start with, his curiosity about their actions and even now he didn't understand it fully.

For example, why she loved him, he had done nothing but hurt her and she loved him? It was understandable from his side because she never hurt him, she couldn't possibly hurt him physically and he had grown fond of her, to the point where it had caused him to actually have a physical attraction to her kind, or her at least.

"Oh," he answered as he let go of her wrist and she took in a deep breath, the awkwardness that was surrounding them was overpowering.

He didn't know what else to say, he could say he loved her as well, but he had to leave again soon and he didn't want her to live with that knowledge considering she just admitted her love to him. "You shouldn't," he said finally, something he didn't want to say but it was best.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"You shouldn't love me," he clarified and then crossed his arms. "You won't benefit from it, find yourself a human man, like that other one, and start a life for yourself," he forced out and she looked at him in horror.

"I don't want a life with him," she said and Cell closed his eyes, he could see himself spending his life with her, but he knew that was impossible and not good for her, he had a day with her, not a lifetime.

"Doesn't have to be him, there are plenty of them out there who will take you as their bride," he answered and she growled.

"Like the one who tried to rape me?" She brought up bitterly. "Or those who tried to shoot me?" She continued. "OR even Eric, who stopped coming around because I said 'no'?" She finished and Cell sighed.

"I'm dead," he said and then pointed up at the halo floating above his head, but she didn't look towards it, she refused to.

"Then maybe I should join you," she said and Cell's eyes widened instantaneously at her remark.

"What?" He questioned and she looked at him.

"If I die I can be with you," she said and Cell immediately shook his head, there was a thousand reasons that couldn't happen, but he was only going to give her two.

"You'll be a cloud and in heaven, I'm in Hell, so there's no way," he said and her eyes widened.

"Hell?" She asked and he growled.

"You didn't think I went upstairs, did you?" He questioned and she slowly shook her head.

"No…" She whispered and he nodded.

"Killing yourself will only manage to piss me off," he said and she let out a soft laugh as she nodded.

"I wasn't serious, I'm just grabbing at straws," she said and he looked at her, her face was sad and her body language indicated the exact same thing. She was distraught about him being dead and now that he knew she loved him he understood why. If she felt anything like he did he pitied her.

"You shouldn't, there are no 'straws', get on with your life," he said and she shook her head and then looked at him.

"I know you cannot possibly feel the same way, but it is difficult to let go," she said and Cell grumbled inwardly.

Didn't she understand what he was feeling? He coined the term before she did! He spent every single day in H.F.I.L envisioning time with her. How could she even suspect he didn't feel the same way? He laughed, of course she couldn't, he never told her he loved her, he never even showed it.

"You're the only thing I care about," he said shortly and she snapped her head up at him. "Of course I understand it's difficult to let go," he said and her eyes softened immediately at his words.

"I can't Cell… I just can't… I know we didn't spend a lot of time together, but I…also grew attached to you… I can't just let go," she said and he just gave a nod; it was difficult to tell her to move on when he didn't want her to. But he wasn't coming back and she wasn't growing any younger, she needed to settle down and start a family and it wasn't going to be with him.

"You have a choice Hina," he said morbidly. "You can either continue to mourn my death or you can move on, it doesn't help you continue to feel this way, it won't benefit you, you have to let go,"

"It's easier said than done Cell, every time I _think _I've reached a point where I can forget something pops up to remind me," she said.

"Like what?"

"Like the message you sent me a year ago, and today, there's always something," she said and Cell grimaced; he didn't realize it would be a mistake to come here or to send her that message.

"I see, then the best option would to just void myself completely," he said and then uncrossed his arms. "Goodbye Hina," he said, he would go somewhere else and wait until the day has passed to go back to H.F.I.L, or try to contact the witch directly before he changed his mind.

Hina watched as Cell rose into the air a bit and she immediately freaked and ran towards him, grabbing hold of his arm. "No, don't go," she pleaded and he looked down at her.

"Must you always make things more difficult than it's meant to be?" He asked as he remained a foot above the ground.

"You're the one who left and who's about to leave again," she said miserably and Cell sighed as he closed his eyes, dropping down on the ground again.

"Whether I leave now or tomorrow, I'm still leaving, it will be easier on you if I go now," he said, there was no point saying it would be easier on him as well. It would be best if she remained oblivious to his true feelings.

"No it won't, I still haven't said my goodbyes properly," she argued and Cell laughed at her sentence.

"Saying goodbye won't make it easier,"

"Yes it will," she snapped and Cell raised an eyebrow. "If I say goodbye it will be final… I will know it's final then… I never got to do that and now is my only chance," she rattled off and Cell sighed again.

"Then say them now," he said and she shook her head.

"Don't you dare rush me with this!" She yelled suddenly and Cell's eyes widened. "Let me do it properly!" She continued and Cell could only nod in surprise at her outburst and request.

"Very well, but why don't you go inside and get yourself something to drink first?" He asked and her eyes darkened so much that he took a step back in shock.

"You bastard!" She spat out as she let go of his arm. "You think I'm an idiot?" She asked and Cell said nothing. "I go inside and get something, then I come outside again and 'POOF' you're gone, like the last time," she said bitterly and Cell had to compliment her with her observation; that had been his plan.

"Okay, then why don't I go in with you?" He asked and she gave a quick angry nod and motioned for him to walk first, if he walked behind he might just manage to vanish again. Why wasn't he willing to let her say goodbye properly?

Once they were inside Hina got herself a glass of water to drink and took two relaxants from the cupboard; she had the feeling she needed them, or was going to need them.

"I want you to tell me the truth, regardless of what I ask, can you do that?" She asked after swallowing down the pills.

Cell stared at her for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I will answer it truthfully if it will benefit you, if that's not the case I will tell you I can't answer you," he said and she let out a soft growl.

"Probably can't ask for more than that," she said before walking towards the backdoor and then out, Cell following behind her.

Once they were outside and far enough from the house she stopped and turned towards him. "Are you going to leave before I finish my goodbye?" She asked and Cell stared at her intently for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"I won't leave until you're done," he said and she gave a sigh of relief and nodded, she knew he wasn't lying, he had said before he didn't lie and so far he hadn't.

"Okay…" She said and immediately the nervousness and awkwardness set in again; why she was still feeling awkward was beyond her, what could be more embarrassing than admitting her love for him?

She grimaced suddenly, he hadn't even bothered to return or deny it, she wondered what he felt; it was obvious he felt something for her since he had come all the way here to 'save' her, and because he had died to save her previously.

"Honestly Hina, if you cannot form words beyond opening and closing your mouth like a fish I don't know what I'm still doing here," he said and her eyes widened as she stopped, she hadn't even realized she was doing it.

"Sheesh… okay, sorry if it's hard to say goodbye," she whined and Cell scowled; it wasn't that, it was the longer that he stayed the harder it would be to leave again. Earth was a free and beautiful world, unlike the stuffy cell in H.F.I.L; oh and then there was Hina, the reason he thought it was beautiful.

"You're such a drama queen," he commented instead and then smiled when her mouth fell open in shock; he reached out and put his index finger under her chin and moved it up and down. "Hmm, you do look like a fish when you do that," he said with a laugh and she gasped before stepping back.

"You don't see me for two years and then the first 'compliment' you give me is that I look like a fish?" She asked and Cell laughed again.

"Actually, I believe I said you're a drama queen first," he said and then crossed his arms. "Jokes aside Hina, it's best if I leave soon so can we commence with the conversation?" He asked and she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Yes, fine," she said morbidly and Cell knew she wanted him to stay longer, but what good would that do either of them? "Sit down then at least," she said as she went to sit down on the ground.

"I prefer to stand," he said and she scowled now.

"How's the weather up there?"

"What?"

"The weather,"

"Up where?"

"There, where your head is," she said and Cell scrunched his eyes in confusion.

"You should know, you were here a second ago,"

"I forgot," she said and Cell scowled now, how could she forget? There wasn't a difference between the weather by his head and the weather where she was sitting.

"Same as down there," he commented briskly.

"Explain it to me, cold, hot, breezy, no wind?" She continued.

"Stand up and find out," he said and suddenly his eyes widened with realization and he immediately sat down. "Are all women this manipulative?" He questioned and she started to laugh.

"Only those that really want something," she said and Cell crossed his arms as he stared at her with bemusement.

"And now you got what you wanted," he answered and she smiled.

"Not quite, but it's a start," she said, her smile still wide and Cell felt a prickle of uneasiness at her attitude. "Honestly…tell me where you are?" She asked and in her eyes he could see she knew.

"H.F.I.L, I don't quite care to elaborate the acronym, but all you need to know is that it is Hell," he said and she gave a nod as she leaned back a bit, using her arms to hoist herself up.

"Is it bad?"

"Could've been worse,"

"Really Cell, tell the truth,"

"I am,"

"What's it like?"

"I'm stuck in a…area… with a bunch of 'evil' people, that's what it's like," Cell said, deciding not to say it was a prison.

"So, I guess you have a lot to talk about," she said and he laughed.

"You think I'm evil? I always thought you were too closed off to realize that," he said as he continued to laugh and she scowled.

"Being evil and understanding the conversation of evil are two different things," She said and Cell just laughed. "Please… don't think of yourself as evil," she said and Cell laughed even harder, not think of himself as evil? From which fantasy world did she escape? He _was _evil!

"C'mon girl, you must stop kidding yourself, my deeds precede me," Cell said as he crossed his arms again, he didn't understand why she insisted on seeing the good in people when there was so much bad surrounding her, it was nothing but foolish.

"How can you be evil when you admitted that you care for me?" She questioned and he didn't like the fact that she brought that up.

"How do you know that I'm not just inveigling you?" He questioned with a smirk and she looked confused.

"In what?"

"Inveigling,"

"And that is?"

"Trickery and deceit, winning your affection with lies and false pretenses," he clarified and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you?" She questioned and Cell just smiled, he had no need to answer that one since the answer was blatantly obvious; the fact that she even questioned it was an insult to him.

A silence befell them for about a minute as Hina patiently expected an answer, but Cell gave none and even though she knew the answer she wanted to hear it, but once again he had proved to her he did not like speaking of such things.

"Was it painful, when you died?" She asked and Cell shrugged his shoulders.

"Partially I suppose, it was over relatively quick though."

"What happened then?"

"You should know, you've died before," he said and she gave a nod, she remembered fairly well, it wasn't an experience you forgot easily.

"Of course," she replied briskly as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Hina, I told you before, it's best if I leave soon," he said in an attempt to urge her on.

"Stop pushing me," she said softly and Cell just gave a nod, he had said he wouldn't leave until she was done, so he would honor that promise even if it was not to his or her benefit.

He smirked suddenly, to think this woman had managed to capture a part of his soul that was meant to be lost to him; she used to be nothing but a tool to help speed his growth and now she was the sole reason he wanted to be alive again.

It wasn't even that they shared a deep bond, it was just that being around her set a part of him at ease and he knew with time he would get to know her; he was _comfortable _around her, even when he was on edge.

He watched as she looked down at the grass and started pulling clumps of grass out with her fingers, she was nervous, it was blatantly obvious. He smiled again, before he had bothered to get to know her species he would not have understood that action, but now he knew.

It was the same when she shuffled on her feet, fiddled with her fingers, bit her bottom lip, looked to the side or went silent. Her actions were easy to read to him now and it felt like he was finally able to understand a book written in another language. He might not know all the words, but he understood the concept well enough.

"I'm not rushing you," he said after a while and she gave a nod as she continued to pull grass from the ground in a useless attempt to ease her nerves.

"Why did you leave when I asked you to stay that night?" She asked after a few seconds, not looking at him, but instead staring towards the grass as she continued to pull at them.

"You mean when you went in to talk to your mother?" He asked and she gave a nod. "The reason is relatively simple, I didn't desire to prolong it, though I didn't leave, I just went out of sight," he said and she looked up at him now.

"So you were there when I got out?"

"Yes,"

"You know… I honestly thought when you died I would never be able to say anything to you again, so that was rude, incredibly rude," she commented and Cell saw she was getting angry at him, he partially understood why, but he wasn't here to humor her anger, not now, not with the time they had.

"It was for the best,"

"Why?!" She suddenly exploded as she jumped to her feet and Cell just looked up at her. "Why? Why was it for the best!? You robbed me of the chance to say goodbye, you robbed me of that and then you went and died!" She hissed out and Cell sighed.

"You had no desire to say goodbye that night," he said and she took in a few deep breathes before settling back down on the grass. "Your only desire was to stop me from going to that fight," he finished and she stared at him intently, her emerald eyes darkening.

"Then why did you leave? It wouldn't have worked and you took the opportunity from me! Instead it left me with a hole that told me I could've stopped you if I tried, do you know what that felt like?" She asked and Cell shrugged his shoulders.

"No, but I know one thing,"

"What?" She asked bemused.

"If I had stayed and you have pressed the subject I would've stayed, I would not have gone, not that day at least," he said and her eyes widened slightly.

"You're joking, right?" She questioned in disbelief, there was no way she had that much 'power' over him.

"No," he answered shortly and her eyes widened more as she went silent, mulling the information over in her head. When had it gotten to the point where she had any sort of power over his actions? She had never even realized that.

Her eyes widened more as she thought about it, he was sitting here even though he wanted to leave because she had asked him, he was _sitting _even though he wanted to stand and he was listening to her. The information took her by shock because she had never realized it before; she _actually _had an influence over him. It was devastating to realize because it was impossible to even consider having any sort of power over something like Cell…and yet she had?

"Well…" She scratched around in her brain for a proper sentence. "That's nice," she said lamely and Cell raised an eyebrow at her.

"Excuse me?"

"Ignore me," she blurted out suddenly, going red in her face, she was embarrassed and taken by surprise.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked as he looked at her reddening cheeks. "Was it something I said?" He quizzed and she shook her head, it was a lie, but it was also true in a sense. It wasn't what he said, but what she had realized.

"I'm fine,"

"You're the shade of a freshly picked tomato, so I highly doubt that,"

"Blushing isn't an illness,"

"Blushing? Why would you be blushing?" He questioned and she looked down and started to pull the grass from the ground again, a sandy patch was left where she had vandalized the greenery.

"Doesn't matter,"

"Perhaps, but I imagine it will be quite amusing to know," he said with a smirk and she scowled, though her cheeks remained crimson.

"Well, you can continue to imagine,"

"Tsk, you're quite catty these days, aren't you?" He questioned as he smiled, she was different from what he remembered, but not exactly in a bad way. Except her anger perhaps, she seemed a lot angrier.

She shrugged her shoulders as she started to viciously pull the grass from the ground, tossing it in all directions, some even landing on Cell.

"Calm down," Cell said, unsure of why she was angry now, he couldn't see how his words could've roused an aggressive action out of her.

Hina scowled deeply as she balled her one fist around a patch of grass. "I am calm," she responded bitterly and then ripped the grass from the ground and tossed it aside, only to replace her hand on another piece of foliage.

Cell reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could pull the poor plant from its roots. She looked up and stared at him and then let go of the plant, but he did not let go of her wrist. "Why don't you tell me what you're really feeling," he said softly and then let go of her wrist, she let her hand drop to the ground idly.

"What I'm really feeling?" She questioned as she looked into his magenta eyes. He gave a nod and she scrunched her eyes together, she knew what she was feeling, but telling him that was an entirely different story.

"Yes, what you're really feeling," he confirmed and she let out a long-winded sigh of annoyance at his question, it was an unfair question.

"You first," she said and Cell pulled his head back a bit in shock.

"What exactly do you want me to say?" He asked and she shrugged her shoulders.

"What you're feeling, really feeling," she said and Cell smirked.

"This time, I believe, I asked you first," he said, referring to a spat they had quite a while ago and she shrugged her shoulders and a second later a smirk appeared on her face.

"I'm not saying a single thing until you do, so the choice is yours," she said and Cell's eyes narrowed.

"I am not your toy to exploit, if you do not wish to answer me that's your choice, but do not try to bargain with me," he said and her eyes widened slightly at his response.

"Oh," she said and then looked down. "Then neither of us will get an answer," she said and Cell scowled as he suddenly got to his feet. Hina immediately jumped up and looked at him with a bit of anxiety. "And now?" She questioned.

"Your desire to drag things along is getting repetitive; I cannot remain here forever," he answered and she shot her hand out, taking hold of his arm.

"You said you wouldn't leave until I was done," she bargained and Cell turned to her fully, uncrossing his arms.

"Then get on with it," he said and her eyes suddenly darkened and she grabbed onto his arms with both of her hands and shook him.

"What is your problem?! You have until tomorrow afternoon to be here and you want to leave immediately!? I JUST want to spend SOME time with you! Is that so hard to understand, is that too much to ask for after everything?!" She screamed at him and instantly she felt tears stinging at her eyes.

She reached to wipe them away, but was shocked to find Cell's thumb at the bottom of her eye instead, wiping away the forming tears. "That's what I meant when I asked for your feelings," he responded softly as he wiped the tears away from her other eye.

Hina stared at him, stared at his face and every other notable feature about him, but she didn't even fully see it, the only thing she saw was him and what he was; her friend and someone she cared about. One of the few people she had ever bothered to care for and she was going to lose him again. She felt another tear slip down each eye but Cell stopped them once again, now placing one thumb at each eye, the rest of his fingers resting at each side of her cheeks.

"Hina…" Cell said in a low voice as he continued to remove her tears, they seemed to be flowing freely at the moment. "…Let go….of everything, of me, of your sister, of your mother and everything else, just let go," he said and she immediately shook her head, tears flying from her eyes.

"I'm not like you! I can't just erase some 'data' I don't like; I can't stop it from invading my mind!" She said and instantly she burst into tears and a second later she put her hands to her eyes to try and hide her tears, but Cell could clearly feel them slipping over and around his thumbs.

"Don't look at me," she said through sobs, she didn't like crying in front of anyone, let alone someone like Cell.

"Fine, I won't look at your face," he said as he pulled his hands from her face, but instead of turning around he put his arms around her back and pulled her against him, her hands and face now against his upper body.

He felt her stiffen, but she didn't pull away, instead she relaxed after a few moments and eased into his hold.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"Don't be," he said coolly. "This is a form of 'letting go'," he said, he didn't quite understand the concept of tears, though he knew it occurred when either the happiness or sadness exceeded the boundaries of their bodies, causing their emotions to spill out in a physical form.

The only thing that bothered him was that he had caused her to cry in sadness instead of happiness. He put his mouth against her hair and sighed softly, he hadn't even been here two hours and he had already caused this.

"I'm still sorry," she said as she removed her hands from her face and instead placed her palms on his chest, her cheek against his chest.

He didn't respond immediately, instead he looked over her dark hair and examined it in idle fascination. He wished he could say 'I'm not,', but there were so many things he regretted that those very words would be a complete lie.

"As I said, don't be," he repeated instead and she gave a quick nod against his chest. He searched himself for the courage to push her away and leave to make it easier for the both of them, but he couldn't find it, it was as if it didn't exist.

"Cell?" She asked softly.

"Yes?"

"Please stay, even after this, please stay until you have to leave," she pleaded and he stiffened immediately.

It was a kosher idea, to stay here and relax instead of going someplace to mull over everything, but how could he do that when he knew it would make it even harder for her? The other question was how would he leave now that she had literally pleaded for him to stay?

"I can't," he said before thinking too deeply about his words, he felt her sag against his frame and he sighed. "It will make no difference," he continued and she said nothing.

What part of his design had caused this irrational attachment to fluctuate beyond his control? It was such an easy action for him to keep his distance but the second he was this close it was hard to leave. It once again reminded him why he shouldn't have come; there was absolutely no upside to this story.

"Come, you must be tired," Cell said as he put his one arm on her shoulder and started to 'attempt' to lead her back towards her house, but she immediately jumped from his grip and shook her head.

"No, I'm not sleeping, I'm not done yet," she argued and Cell's eyes softened instantaneously, it was quite obvious what was going through her mind.

"You have nothing left to say, you've already said everything you want to and now you're just weakly trying to latch onto something that is going to disappear anyway," Cell said and she immediately shook her head.

"No, I have a lot to say to you, I just can't,"

"Can't?" Cell asked with interest.

"Doesn't matter," she said quickly and Cell gave a nod, he had no reason to pressure her for an answer since the answer might just be something he couldn't afford to hear at a time like this.

"I see, so what do you propose we do now?" He asked, he wanted to hear her take on the situation before he left, perhaps hear some sort of last request.

"Stay," she said and he shook his head. "Please stay, even if it's just until nighttime," she continued and Cell shook his head again.

"No," he said and she stepped forward and grabbed onto his arm.

"I won't let go, I swear to god I will latch onto your arm like it's attached to my body," she threatened and Cell's eyes lighted up with amusement as he smirked.

"Honestly? What do you take me for? A common mortal?" He asked as he reached down and pried her fingers from his arm with little effort. When he let go of her fingers she immediately placed it there again.

"I won't stop," she said and Cell crossed his arms, pulling her hand with him as he did so.

"I'm sure you won't, but your effort is worth little," he commented and she scowled.

"Then what would you have me do? Should I go down to your level of affection and just 'run away' or should I actually try to gather something worthwhile out of this '24 hours'?" She asked bitterly and Cell was surprised she considered his affection to be less than hers, as far as he knew hers was nothing but silly mortal emotions. Humans loved so easily that it was nothing special, but for someone like him to gain even the slightest bit of affection towards a mortal? It was unspoken of. He knew that much just from his cell-mates reaction alone.

"Run away, it is the less-painful path," Cell said and she growled at him and then shook her head.

"You can run, but I won't,"

"C'mon now Hina, there is absolutely no rational reason that you should be feeling what you do, think about that for a few seconds before you attempt to run after something that is dead," he said, it was relatively hard to utter the words, but it was for the 'greater good' in a sense.

"Shut up!" She yelled suddenly as she held onto his arm tighter, gripping his skin harder. "Jade is dead, yet I think of her daily! So don't try to throw that bullshit at me Cell," she bit out angrily and he let out a sigh.

"Comparing me to your sister is not right, I am not her and I will never mean that to you, so you cannot compare us," he said and she lessened her grip on his arm by a bit.

"You're right, you don't, because she was my blood, but there's a difference between her and you, you're still _here_, I know you're still _alive _in a sense and that is what makes it hard," she said and Cell shrugged his shoulders.

"I am not alive, just because you can see me does not mean I'm 'alive', this could possibly fall under the same category as looking at the photo or video of someone who has passed," he said and she immediately shook her head.

"Oh my god, are you daft?" She asked and Cell raised an eyebrow at her question. "I can't touch, smell or actually _see _a photo or video, don't be ridiculous Cell," she said and he shrugged again.

"This will be the last time you see me," he said and he noticed her mood immediately dropped, he found it fascinating that she seemed to share a part of his attachment, though mortals got attached so easily, it would take her little time to find another attachment. Cell wasn't that lucky, he had made a bond and he was now unable to break it, even with death.

"Then the least you can do is grant me the full time," she said and Cell stared at her, he didn't want to agree to that, he didn't want to abide by something like that, not in this situation.

"I will stay until I deem it necessary to leave," he said and he expected her to get angry, but instead her eyes lighted up like a thousand different green jewels at his answer.

"Really?" She questioned doubtfully, though her eyes still sparkled.

"Yes," he answered shortly.

"I…well…thank you," she said and Cell gave a quick nod of acknowledgement. "Come with me, I want to show you something," she said and Cell nodded as he started to follow her.

**x.X.x**

**HOLY MOTHER OF God… This is the longest chapter I've EVER posted on this story. I just couldn't find a 'break' earlier on. Well people, I hope you enjoyed this. All 6000 words of it. **

**And yes…Cell is still his old self, hence the semi-rudeness which isn't actual rudeness. More of his 'logical' and prideful side. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter :D **

**Please also note I really try to stay true to his personality and trust me when I say this: IT IS HARD AT TIMES. So if you want to flame me for this chapter, go right ahead. But before you do that, please go read a quarter of the stories out there to distract your attention from mine in terms of flaming. **

**Now for my reviewers:**

**Rose of Dusk: **Hey, thanks for the enthusiastic review I am actually busy writing a book :/ But it's going nowhere slowly – mostly because I tend to upgrade my writing style a lot and then look at my old stuff and go 'ew'. Then I scratch it all and start over.

**xXxSaiyanPrincessxXx: **Well, I'm glad you found it :D Thanks for the review.

**FoxyAlterEgos: **Well, hope you liked this chapter, it's the longest one I've written yet

**DarkMagicianMidget: **Oh trust me, I have plans to go in that direction, eventually. And no… I haven't watched either of those…but my god…that leather pants one has me laughing everytime I watch it. The end with Yugi singing 'my leather shoes' is priceless.

**MiniKirio: **You lucky, lucky person! The only dream I've EVER had about Dragonball Z was that Vegeta and Goku was fighting and for some reason Vegeta threw Goku with a toaster, but it ended up hitting Bulma instead. Trippy stuff. Oooh, cupcake gun :D This I like. Thanks for the review ^^


	26. Chapter 26

**This chapter is the first indication of the semi-evil Cell that will briefly appear in the next chapter. As for his dastardly plan, I'm sure you can see the reason behind it. If you think I'm wrong, PM me and tell me why. **

**And yes…I know, the sweetness of the chapters is sickening. But remember, he's going to be leaving again and the 'both' of them know it. So honestly…ask yourself, what would you do?**

**x.X.x**

Goku watched them walk towards the barn and he was relatively fascinated by the lack of aggression Cell was showing; though he was trying to convince the female to 'let go'; it was admirable of him that he wanted to ease her pain.

"Goku, I need to go," Baba said, she was sure now that Cell wouldn't attempt to destroy earth and she had other duties to attend to, she wasn't on vacation and couldn't afford to sit the day out.

He immediately pouted and clutched onto the ball. "Just a few more minutes," he said and Baba rolled her eyes, the only thing that sentence was missing was 'mom'.

x.X.x 

When they reached the barn Cell looked at her in confusion. "What is it?" He questioned and she idly shrugged her shoulders as she pulled the doors open. When it was done she stepped inside and peeked around.

After a few seconds she looked towards Cell. "Okay, come in," she said and Cell nodded as he stepped into the darkness of the barn and when he was inside he looked around. His eyes widened when his eyes landed on the exoskeleton he was in when he first met her.

"What on earth are you still doing with that thing?" Cell asked as he walked towards it, so much time had passed that it was difficult for him to remember the time when he had been in that form, he was so different from that time.

"I brought it over from the other farm a few months ago, I had sold the farm, but this thing I left in the forests, I went to get it; kind of as a reminder. Apparently it doesn't decompose." she said and Cell laughed as he stroked his finger across the hard exterior of his former body.

"Reminder of what? How I killed you? Or tried to at first?" He questioned and she immediately shook her head.

"No, a reminder of how far we have come, how far you have come," she said and Cell was silent as he considered her words, they were true, they have come far.

"Well, not exactly the normal kind of reminder, but I guess it will do," he said and Hina smiled as she put her hand on the skeleton.

"It's the only reminder I have of you when you're gone," she said sadly.

"It's just a shell," he said and Hina immediately shook her head.

"No, it's not, it's a memory as well," she argued and Cell shrugged his shoulders, he couldn't argue with that, if she saw it as a memory, then it was a memory.

What memories was there that could be attached to that skeleton except 'how far they've come'? There were the murders he had committed and the countless places he had destroyed. He looked back at those times and actually found he had no regrets. Murder and mayhem wasn't something he cared about and the fact that he knew her, or even cared for her, didn't change that fact.

He had no squabbles about going into a town and destroying it right now, he enjoyed it, he enjoyed mayhem, destruction and death. There were very few things that was as exciting as seeing power in action, hearing the screams and tearing apparently 'stable' buildings apart.

He held life and death in his hands; he could so easily break the girl before him, shatter every bone in her body with but a spark of his energy. Nothing came easier to him than destruction and yet he had the capabilities to be even gentler than those on earth with no power. It was a matter of control and it was a good thing he had it.

He looked at her as she stared at the skeleton and without much thought he reached out and took hold of a stray strand of black hair and moved it in between his fingers. The fiber was soft and coarse at the same time and he could smell the fragrance of berries on it.

Hina turned towards him and watched as he 'played' with her hair in a sense, he seemed in thought and she wondered what he was thinking. There was a time when she considered his thought pattern to be dangerous, but now she knew differently; he was truly intelligent and had a heart: he was not a monster.

As Cell continued to rub her hair between his fingers he felt some of his programming coming back to him. He gave up everything for her; he gave up his life, his revenge and his honor for her. He gave up destroying things because of her opinion and now he was dead.

He smiled suddenly, even now he wouldn't go about destroying things because the fact that she thought he wasn't a monster actually meant something to him. His eyes suddenly widened as he realized something.

She was so attached to the idea that he was good that she couldn't see the bad or let go, if he could BRING that out, FORCE it out and make her realize what he truly was she would despise him, she would hate him and be able to move on.

'I'll be nothing but a bad memory,' he thought bitterly, he was going to Hell anyway; nothing he did now could mar that further. There was nothing they could do to him except shove him back in that cell and he was returning there anyway.

'It's settled then,' he thought; he would go about and destroy things, destroy people, kill them and prove to her what he was. He didn't like the idea of her hating him, but it was better than the idea of her living in probable agony from his departure.

"Are you okay?" Hina asked after a few seconds and Cell looked towards her and gave a nod; he wouldn't go right now though, he still had a lot of time left. He would go when she was asleep so that she couldn't attempt to stop him, instead she would hear of it on the news the next day; that would be enough to make her change her tune about him.

"I'm fine," Cell said and then let go of the strand, it fell down over her shoulder idly. "C'mon," he said as he stepped out of the barn, he didn't bother turning around to see if she was following, he could sense she was.

Once he was outside he turned toward her and used a spark of energy to slam the barn door shut, she jumped slightly from shock, but didn't turn around. He held his hand out towards her and she looked at it for a second before placing her own hand in it.

Cell enclosed his hand around hers and stared at it, her hand was small compared to his and it did no justice in comparison how fragile she really was. He smiled suddenly, he was going to ruin her image of him in a few hours, he might as well give her one pleasant experience before then.

"Have you ever flown before?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, in a plane," she answered and he smiled as he reached out and put his free hand around his back, pulling her against him.

"Hold on," he said and she immediately went white in her face and froze.

"N-no," she said meekly and Cell looked at her pasty expression with curiosity.

"What got under your skin?" He questioned.

"Heights," she said and Cell's eyes widened for a split second.

'Of course,' he thought. 'The tree incident, she's afraid of heights,' he thought inwardly, but he didn't let go of her hand or back. "I won't drop you," he said and she went whiter in her face and shook her head again.

"No," she said again and Cell didn't like her answer one bit.

"I promise I won't drop you," he said, this was the first time he had made a promise through his own words, but it was true.

"Cell…" she said as she looked away from him. "It's not about dropping me, it's…height," she confided.

Cell sighed as he looked down at her; her face was still turned away from him. "Then perhaps I can give you another memory," he said and then let go of her hand and used it to take hold of her chin, he moved her face towards him and looked at her eyes.

She truly seemed frightened of the prospect of flying, or being off the ground in any form or shape. He put his lips on her forehead and with a sudden impulse he kissed it, he felt her body freeze over, but it was nothing compared to his own surprise.

He removed his lips from her forehead, his eyes wide at the irrational decision he had made. He saw her eyes were closed for some reason, but her body was completely stiff. 'She's going to hate this, but it's an opportunity to change her mind,' Cell thought as he removed his hand from her chin and put it around her back with the other one and slowly started to rise off the ground.

Hina's eyes snapped open and she immediately looked down, seeing that she was a few feet from the ground. Her eyes widened and she started to squirm, trying to push herself out of his grip to get to the ground, but it was impossible to budge if he didn't wish it to be so. "Cell, put me down," she said in panic.

"No," he said as he shook his head, but she continued to struggle.

"No, no, no, no, let me go, put me down, Cell!" She yelled.

"No,"

"PUT ME DOWN!" She screamed, they were already quite a few meters up in the air and she didn't even dare to look down anymore.

"No,"

"Cell, put me down, please put me down, I beg of you," she pleaded as she looked into his cherry-colored eyes. "Please, put me down," she continued, but Cell merely shook his head.

"No," he said once more.

She shook her head, but didn't speak more, instead she put her head against his chest and closed her eyes and grabbed him around his sides, unable to look down.

Once they were quite high he looked down at her, if he went any higher her body and ears wouldn't be able to handle the pressure, so this was the limit. "Open your eyes," he said, but she shook her head.

"No," she said and Cell let out a laugh at her fear, it was funny how a mortal could be afraid of something as trivial as heights, it was nothing but a distance between the ground and their feet.

"Open them," he said, there was a thing about heights that people didn't appreciate, it was the beauty of seeing the world below and admiring it. "You were much higher than this when you were up in space," he said, it was true, space was quite a distance from the ground, yet she didn't fear then because it was a dream of hers.

"Doesn't matter, that was different," she argued meekly and Cell rolled his eyes.

"If you do not open your eyes, I will drop you," he threatened and she shook her head and she clutched onto him now, her head still buried in his chest.

"You wouldn't do that,"

"Wouldn't I?" He asked with a laugh.

"No, you wouldn't," she said and Cell slowly started to separate her hands from his body.

"I give you one last opportunity to open your eyes," he said and she shook her head. "You know exactly how to dig your own grave, don't you?" He asked mockingly and she said nothing. "Very well," he said as he quickly separated her arms from his body and held her at arm's length.

Hina didn't open her eyes, but her face immediately twisted in horror and mild surprise. "What are you doing?" She asked and Cell let go of one of her shoulders, merely holding her up by her left shoulder, the right side of her body sagged a bit, but he wasn't going to drop her just yet.

"As I said, open your eyes or I let go," he said and she reached out and grabbed hold of the arm holding her shoulder, grappling it. "That won't help," he commented.

"You promised you wouldn't drop me," she said and Cell widened his eyes a bit, he did promise that.

"Exactly," he said as he pulled her back towards him, he had promised so he wouldn't do it. "Since I promised, you have nothing to fear, now do you?" He questioned and she shook her head

"No, I guess not,"

"Then open your eyes,"

Hina clutched her eyes shut tighter for a second and then she slowly started to open them, when she had one eye open she firstly stared at Cell, her eye greeting his chest and then she moved her eye up until his face before opening her other eye. "Okay, they're open," she said and Cell gave a laugh, Hina knew fairly well what he wanted of her, yet she was avoiding it like the plague.

"Down Hina, look down," he clarified for humors sake and she instantly paled.

"No, I'm happy just looking at you, thanks though,"

"Just do it,"

"Why? Why do you want to exploit this so badly? You know I fear it," she said and Cell shrugged his shoulders.

"People only fear what they don't understand, you can conquer that fear if you only learn to embrace it," he said and she took in a deep breath, but still didn't look down. "You can't be that frightened?" He questioned, it was completely irrational that she could fear something that much for no reason, it wasn't logical.

"I do," she muttered and Cell went silent, this was working out a tad differently that he had anticipated, coaxing her into it wasn't as easy as he assumed. If only she could see it for what it truly was she would no longer fear it, which was his plan.

"Fine… how about a bargain," Cell said hesitantly, he wasn't sure whether this was a good idea, but he might as well test how great that fear was.

"As in?" She questioned.

"If you look down I will stay until nighttime," he offered.

Hina stared at him and then brought her watch up to her face, it was almost seven, the sun was already setting by the mountains. "No," she said, that offer could be anything from five minutes to one hour and she could possibly make him stay that long anyway.

"Hmmm…then how about I don't leave until I have to?" He questioned, a smile forming on his face, but she looked skeptical.

"Define 'have to'," she said.

"I will stay until tomorrow morning, or until you fall asleep," he said, taking in account the time he would need to gain media attention for his little heist.

"Okay," Hina said very quickly, quick enough to make Cell laugh.

"Then look down," he pressed and Hina gulped as she brought her eyes down, firstly she stared at Cell's feet and then she found herself staring passed it. The view she understood, she had seen a similar view when she was in the plane, but this was different, she was unbound by the mechanical side of flight, instead she was standing free, in a sense.

Cell watched her look down, but he was too in thought to be amused, she was willing to conquer her fear, or face it, just because he 'said' he was going to stay longer? He wasn't planning on leaving until then, but for all she knew he could've been lying! How much did he really mean to her?

"Do you like it?" Cell asked after half a minute and she idly nodded her head as she looked around the blue sky that enveloped them. "It might not be the same as space, but it still holds some beauty," he commented and she nodded again.

Being this high wasn't as frightening to her as she expected, it was an unrealistic height and thus it was…easier to accept, she didn't fear it like she thought she would've. It was just…beautiful; to see all the little objects down below and look at the landscape from such a distance. It was like looking at a piece of art.

A few minutes passed as Cell held her; she looked around, but didn't attempt to move away from him. "Do you want to go down again?" He asked and she immediately shook her head.

"No… it's beautiful," she said and Cell smirked, it was odd how he desired to show her the world through his eyes, but he suspected it had something to do with the fact that she appreciated it so much that he couldn't help but want to show her.

"Very well… but let me get you a more…comfortable seat," he said as he looked around, there was a relatively high mountain a few miles from where he was, she would be more comfortable if she sat down on a cliff there and she would still be able to see down quite well. "Close your eyes again and cover your eyes, I'll hold you," he said and she gave a nod as she did as he asked; and with that he took off in the direction quickly.

**x.X.x**

**The 'unrealistic height' thing. I thank my sister for that. We were flying in one of those 'open' planes; think they're called micro planes or glider something. Anyway, she fears heights (she can't even stand on a table without getting dizzy), but her words were that it was an unrealistic height, thus it was okay. **

**Also, please note. Next chapter is the slightly dark one. I'll ask you a question and you guess Cells Reaction.**

**Person is in danger that is NOT Hina?**

**Hina wants him to save the person OR puts herself in danger to save the person?**

**His programming reminds him of something?**

**Great, answer those (while keeping his actual personality in mind) and you'll understand why. **


	27. Chapter 27

**PLEASE NOTE: This chapter has a bit of violence in it and there's a small dark part in it. However, I thought it was necessary and quite frankly, I've never written a story without some sort of darkness in it. **

**Also, please note that, even in the series, Cell also had a bit of a temper on him if it exceeded a certain point and if he got angry he was pissed. No gray areas. Also note that he could calm down and fire up just as quickly depending on circumstances.**

**x.X.x**

When they reached a hill on the mountain top Cell put her down on it. "You can open your eyes again, we're here," he said and she did so, but when she saw where they were, or more how 'high' they were she let out a yelp and stepped back.

"This is high," she said immediately and Cell laughed.

"You were higher a few seconds ago," he said and she gulped, but gave a nod, the bit of pride she had left in her beseeched her not to tell him that she wasn't scared of 'unrealistic' heights, or not as much as she was of 'realistic heights', this 'mountain top view' was a realistic height.

"I know," she answered and Cell went to sit down on the ledge of the hill, she stood behind him, not daring to go any closer to the edge, she didn't want to fall off.

"Come, sit down here," he said when he saw how nervous she was; she let out a quick laugh.

"I think I'm alright here," she said and Cell smirked at her reply.

"I can force you, you know," he said and she gave a huff as she moved a bit closer, being a few feet from the edge. She looked down and immediately the cold draft from below wafted passed her; she paled as she took a step backwards.

"It's cold there," she offered meekly, it wasn't the reason, but it was something she could say to deter him from his idea. "Let's rather leave," she said and Cell smiled as he got to his feet, he turned towards her and held out his hand.

She looked at it for about a second and then took it, he closed his hand around hers and without any warning he pulled her to him and jumped from the cliff, her scream echoing through the sky and he just laughed.

When they hit the forest floor far below he looked at her, her eyes were wide, but she wasn't in shock, she just seemed surprised and angry. "How could you do that!?" She yelled and he let go of her, she immediately collapsed down on the ground, her skin almost as pale as his.

"I didn't hurt you, I didn't drop you, I only brought you down to the ground," he said and she shook her head rapidly. "Come now, you can't tell me that wasn't fun?" He questioned and she sighed as she put her hands on her knees.

"Fun? Ugh…" she mumbled angrily, she was feeling sick to her stomach from that jump, she couldn't even be angry at him because of that.

"You look rather bilious," Cell said with a laugh, but underlining it was a tad of concern.

"Just give me a minute…" she whispered, trying to calm her nerves and stop the world from spinning, she had never had such a severe case of vertigo.

Cell nodded as he leaned against the tree, watching her go from white to normal and then white again, she was changing color every few seconds. 'Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea,' he thought to himself, she seemed to have enjoyed the view above, but lost it when they were on a mountain. "Let me take you home," he said and she shook her head.

"Not yet… don't want to move now or fly again," she said as she took in a few deep breathes.

"We can walk then," he said, it was quite a distance to her house, but if she wanted that he didn't mind, he wasn't the one who was going to get tired after the first few miles.

"Thank you," she said as she leaned back against a tree, waiting for the world around her to settle and for the nausea to pass.

"Just tell me when you're ready to go again," he said as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, he couldn't believe it, but he was tired, perhaps he would take time to rest if she did so as well.

x.X.x

Minutes went by before Hina was capable of standing up properly, just as she got to her feet she heard someone, sounding like a child, scream from the distance. She snapped her head in the direction and was about to run towards it when she felt Cell's hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ready to go now?" He asked and she turned towards him.

"Didn't you hear that?" She asked.

"Hear what?"

"The scream," she said and Cell gave a nod.

"Of course I did, it's a boy being chased by an animal," he answered and Hina's eyes widened. "Let's get going," he said as he removed his hand from her shoulder, but she shook her head. "Still feeling sick?" He asked and Hina's eyes widened more, he wasn't concerned in the least about the child, even if he knew what was going to happen.

"The child Cell! I can't just leave him," she said in panic. "Please, go help him," Hina begged and Cell raised an eyebrow at her.

Help the child? Why would he want to do that? "Let nature take its course," he said and was about to start walking back to the house when Hina turned in the direction of the screams and ran in that direction. Cell watched her go for a few seconds, she wasn't going to leave it and the 'animal' wasn't exactly something she could take down.

With a sigh he disappeared and reappeared before her. "Fine, I'll get the child out of the forest, stay here" he said and then he was gone.

x.X.x

Cell appeared in front of the boy just as the tiger was going in for the killing blow; Cell let the tiger attempt to maul him as he turned towards the boy; who was looking at him with a sense of fear. 'Probably remembers me from the media,' Cell though and then grabbed the boy by the collar and used instant transmission to get him out of the forest.

When he dropped the boy off at a farm house he headed back towards Hina; though he had a growing sense of anger in him. He was reduced to saving children because of her; he was reduced to spending a day in 'solitary' because of her. He gritted his teeth angrily and sped up, knocking the trees around him over as he did so.

x.X.x

By the time he was back at Hina he was fuming, he dropped down on the ground and roughly grabbed her arm and then brought his fingers to his forehead and teleported back to her farm, forget walking and flying, he was leaving.

x.X.x 

When he touched down on the grass by the barn he let go of her hand, she immediately grabbed it and rubbed over her flesh, it was turning slightly red and he instantly felt guilt swell up in him, but he forced it down.

"What's wrong?" She asked in concern, but Cell could see fear in her eyes, she was afraid of him suddenly.

"Time's up, I'm done sticking around, I'm not a pet," he hissed out as he took a step towards her. "You have done enough to me!" he continued and she stepped back and Cell noticed she resembled a frightened animal right now, she was cowering in fear. 'Good,' he thought, she should fear him.

x.X.x

"Goku, go there!" Baba yelled as she looked at the look on Cell's face, it was murderous. "He's going to kill her," she continued and Goku gritted his teeth as he shook his head.

"No…he won't," Goku said, there was no way Cell would kill the girl, there was just no way.

x.X.x

"I'm sorry," she said as she was backed up against the barn wall, her hands at her sides and her palms against the wall surface. The look on Cell's face scared her; she had only once seen him this angry before and that was when he had blinded her, even then he wasn't this angry.

"You sent me out like a lapdog to save some idiotic child and that's not even the worst of it!" He yelled at her as he punched straight through the barn, right next to her face. "I've had it Hina, I've had it with you and your fake notions of love!" He yelled at her, she was leading him around the bush with her 'I love you' crap and because he cared for her he lingered around like an idiot.

Hina gulped as she watched him pull his fist from the barn, if it had been two inches to the right it would've been her face instead of the wall. Whatever she did now, she couldn't afford to anger him further, it would cost her dearly if she did. "Please…calm down…" she whispered, but Cell's face twisted in anger.

"I'm not someone who should be 'calm'; I was the tyrant of this world, the owner!" He yelled as he punched another hole in the wall and Hina gritted her teeth as a piece of wood gashed her across her neck.

Cell's eyes narrowed as he watched blood pool from the gash on her neck. "You're so bloody fragile, it's pathetic," he said as he reached out for her neck, but Hina instantly threw up her arms to keep him back. Cell's hand stopped an inch from her arms and looked at her eyes. They were open and looking at him in shock, the fear was still there, but the shock was so much more. "Get the hell out of my face before I _do _kill you," he said and her eyes widened more, but the fear was replaced by sadness.

Cell couldn't kill her, he knew that, but she didn't need to know that. Both times he had punched through the wall he had actually aimed for her face, but every time he stopped and hit next to her. She had him entangled and it made him angry.

"Okay," Hina said as she swallowed hard, she lowered her hands and then brought one up to her wound and put her palm over it for a second before bringing it to her face to see the damage. She turned slightly white when she saw her entire palm was crimson with blood. At the moment it didn't hurt, at least not compared to his words.

Cell saw the amount of blood on her hands and looked away, that blood was on his hands in a sense. He itched to turn around and heal her, to make the wound go away and remove the blood from his hands but he had done enough, she had done enough. If he stayed any longer he would apologize and be back at square one. He had to use his lingering anger to leave.

Cell lifted up into the air by a bit, but then she spoke. "How can you say it's fake love?" She asked and Cell cringed. "You don't even know what love is!" She yelled at him now and he could detect a bit of anger in her voice, though it only fuelled his own anger further.

He swung around in the air and stared down at her, the blood trailed down her neck and onto her clothing and it distracted him from his anger, the guilt bubbling up in him again, but he couldn't allow the guilt to win. "What do you know? You're just a human, your race has absolutely no idea what loyalty, honesty, decency, respect or power is. You're just a bunch of primal apes with no sense of direction or pride," he said and her face twisted in anger as she balled her fists.

"Then why did you even come?" She asked bitterly.

"I'm asking myself that very same question," he replied crudely, this wasn't bringing him anywhere, the only road his behavior was taking was guilt, but luckily the anger remained with every word she spoke.

Hina's eyes widened suddenly, but then narrowed. "Get the hell out of here," she growled out and Cell's eyes widened now at her 'command'.

"You can't order me anymore," he said angrily as he dropped back down on the ground and stepped closer to her, but she stood her ground. "Who do you think you are?" He asked her and she suddenly pushed him back with both her hands, leaving a smear of blood across his torso.

"Leave!" She yelled and Cell's eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to her again, angrier than before, she was talking to him like he was a dog!

He was about to speak when she beat him to it. "You come here, pretend to care and then turn around and do _this_?!" She screamed at him. "You sick bastard! I admit to you what I feel for you and you make a mockery of it!?" She continued. "You should never have come! I should never have met you; you've done nothing but twist my life around, I wish I never met you!" She yelled as she pushed him again, but he didn't budge, so instead she slapped him. "Just leave, get away from me!" She finished as she bit her lower lip, trying to force her tears back down, but a few escaped.

Cell stared at her with wide eyes; he couldn't even locate his anger right now. He watched as her teeth were still gritted and she angrily wiped away escaping tears. "Why?" He asked her and she looked up at him, the salty tears slipping down her cheeks and some running down her neck, washing bits and pieces of the blood away. "Why do you love me?" He asked seriously and her eyes darkened immediately.

"Oh fuck off, you've mocked me enough, go back to hell and leave me alone," she spat out and then turned towards the barn and yanked open the door, stepping inside and closing it again.

Cell stared at the barn door, inside he could hear her crying and he wondered what he should do, the answer was actually simple; it was do as she asked and leave her alone; he had given her enough reason to move on and maybe even hate him. But he had this burning feeling in him that implored him to go into the barn and do _something_, he didn't know what yet.

With a sigh he walked towards the barn door and yanked it open, once he was inside he closed it again and turned in the direction he sensed she was. He found her sitting on a tied stack of hay and she was looking away from him, towards the ground. "I asked you to leave," she whispered.

"Don't worry, I am leaving," he said as he stepped closer to her, he had to leave, he knew he had to leave, but something was stopping him from leaving her like this. 'The wound,' he thought idly, perhaps if he healed it the feeling would go away.

He walked until he was right by her, he reached out and took hold of her hair and tossed it to the other side so that the wound was fully revealed to him. It wasn't very deep, which meant her blood was probably thinned for some reason. He calculated the date in his head and realized yesterday had been her 25th birthday. 'Alcohol then,' he thought as he put his hand on her neck.

"_What _are you doing?" She asked as she saw the green light appear on her neck, she knew what he was doing it, but why she didn't know.

"Healing your neck," he answered curtly.

"I don't see why, the way I'm understanding it, you'd much rather break it," she said and Cell said nothing to that, he didn't need to reply; so instead he just continued to heal her.

When the wound was gone he was confused to find the feeling remained, it was like fire coursing through his body and it irritated him. He looked at his hand, which was still on her neck, and found the uncomfortable feeling was there. 'Touching her?' He questioned inwardly, what the hell did touching her have to do with his feelings?

He cocked his head to the side in confusion; he had already come to the conclusion that he had an attraction to her prior to today, but that was what it was going to stay and now his _body _was arguing with his logic? "Insane," he said aloud as he removed his hand from her neck, his hand was covered in blood and so was her neck, but the wound was gone.

He had to leave because whatever growing affection he had for her was dangerous, he couldn't let it fluctuate further. He turned around and walked towards the door and opened it.

"You want to know why I love you?" Hina asked a second later and Cell stopped mid-exit and turned back towards her, she was looking at him now instead of looking towards the ground.

"Yes," he said, it was a curiosity to him; it wasn't something he _needed _to know and it probably wouldn't do him any good if he did know, but he wanted to know.

"Because you're the only person who bothers to be gentle with me, or try to at least and for you that is quite the achievement, you… stick around because you want to, not because I ask you to, aside from today. You have so much power in you and even if you don't use it to help anyone, you have used it to save me and help me," she said as tears bubbled from her eyes. "You have been a pillar to me even before I knew what you were, you make me laugh and when you're around I'm happy and…" she swallowed hard. "…and that's it…that's why," she said and Cell knew immediately that wasn't all, but that was all she was going to say.

Cell had to admit he hadn't expected such a deep answer from her, it wasn't superficial at all. He ran his own thoughts through his head, his reasons for caring for her and it was somewhat similar. She accepted him and treated him like he was something 'special' to her, she did make him laugh quite often with her antics and she had even saved him once herself. She meant more to him than anything did and even if he didn't like it that much it was the truth, he couldn't change that.

"I see," Cell answered and her face eventually fell when she saw he was still going to leave. Cell stopped again and looked at her forlorn face; she was making this difficult. Why she would even want him around still was a shock, he had almost punched a hole in her face.

"Can I give you something before you go?" Hina asked as she got to her feet and walked over to him, the anger was gone now from the both of them and Cell sometimes wondered whether his energy had left a permanent mark on her.

"I can't take anything with," he said and she smiled as she stopped in front of him.

"I know, but you can take this with," she said and then stepped a bit forward and went on her toes before putting her arms around his neck and hugging him. "Thank you…thank you for saving me, thank you for everything you've done for me and even if I'll never see you again I want you to know I'll never forget you, as long as I'm alive you'll still be alive on this planet through my memories," she said softly, her voice got teary at the end. "This… is my goodbye Cell," she whispered and then lifted up a bit more and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Cell stood petrified as he listened to her words, it sounded so…final. It reminded him of why he didn't want her to say goodbye, it made everything far too real. When he felt her lips touch his cheek he closed his eyes and for the first time in his life he felt a tear slip down his one eye. He put his one arm around her back and with the other one he closed the barn door again.

Once the door was closed he used that hand to take hold of her chin, he raised her face up so that he could look her in her eyes, if she had the guts to say it then he could do so as well. "I love you," he said and with his words he saw a few tears escape her eyes. "And this is my goodbye," he said and then bent down and put his lips on hers.

**x.X.x**

**. Posting this…was embarrassing. Mostly because I knew quite a few people are reading this right now and are doing one of the following.**

**1: Aawwww**

**2: About bloody time**

**3: WTF**

**4: This chapter…was confusing**

**5: FLAME TIME!**

**6: MOAR!**

**7: Hmmmm**

**8: Meh…don't care**

**9: Next chapter or you die (creepy version of Moar)**

**10: Please…miss, if you would be so kind, update (sophisticated version of Moar)**

**I would also like to point out that the next chapter starts on a bit of a funny note and I would also like to note that, probably as you all know, there is no sexual scenes in this story – it's rated T after all and I just recently found out FF doesn't allow MA content either.**

**And know you might be asking yourself WHY I'm saying this…well…there's a reason for EVERYTHING. **


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